Jeanine Lewis Canales returned to the Augusta area to be closer to her aging mother.
At the time, her mother didn’t need assistance, but Canales wanted a contingency plan.
“You have to start making life choices. You don’t want to come after there’s a big problem. Hopefully you can position yourself before there is,” said Canales who did a soft launch of Seniors Helping Seniors-Mid South Georgia on July 10 in Augusta. The physical location should open within the next few weeks.
What she found was a shortage of caregivers.
Nationwide there is a critical shortage for nurses and other caregivers. Nursing CEU at CheapNursingCEUs analyzed data from the National Council of State Boards of Nursing on the total number of registered nurses and nurse practitioners in each state with Georgia ranking third highest in shortages with 1,533 nurses per 100,000 residents.
But caregiving as a whole extends beyond specialized nursing care. Seniors Helping Seniors’ services include tasks such as running errands, taking someone to a doctor’s appointment, preparing a meal, caring for pets and light housekeeping.
And while she’d like to have more senior adults in the role of caregivers, Canales is more interested in hiring adults with life experience and empathy rather than a certain date on a birth certificate. She’s also interested in helping the right personalities fit together.
“I’m interested in adding life and joy to both sides, bringing people together,” she said.
One person might prefer someone who is chatty to take them to a doctor’s appointment and then grab lunch on the way back while others may not. Also, it could be helpful for caregivers to have common interests. Maybe they both like to crochet or have a similar hobby.
“As seniors age, they lose friends, whether it’s through someone passing, relocation, mobility. It’s for different reasons. This is a brilliant idea. How do you match people well so that they can experience life in a more enriched way,” she said.
Canales found that this business is the right fit for her as well. It combines her strengths and background with something she’s passionate about.
“There’s something called ikigai. It’s actually a Japanese term for finding your purpose,” she said.
With Seniors Helping Seniors, she’s found that sense of ikigai.
Canales’s background is in marketing and strategy. She worked for brands such as Coca-Cola, General Mills, Shell and Office Depot.
As a strategist, she can also spot the trends.
“According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Georgia has the ninth fastest growing 60 and older population, and more than 20% of Georgia’s population will be 60 or older by 2030, an increase of almost 34% from 2012,” from the Georgia Department of Human Services website
Canales sees that while there’s a need for caregivers now, it’s only going to increase in the future.
“My passion has always been to find how a product, brand or service can actually make someone’s life better. That’s when it’s fun,” she said.
Charmain Z. Brackett, the publisher of Augusta Good News and Inspiring: Women of Augusta, has covered Augusta’s news for more than 35 years. She’s won multiple Georgia Press Association awards and is the recipient of the 2018 Greater Augusta Arts Council’s media award. Reach her at charmain@augustagoodnews.com. Sign up for the newsletter here.
