Caregiver of the Season - 2009 Spring: Diane Merrell

Diane is the project leader of our ‘Share Care’ group at Pearl Crossing. Diane started the ‘Share Care’ project, with just two residents. As word spread about the joy that Diane brought to their lives, friends and other residents asked to join her group.

Diane and her team of four, now serve 12 residents. They cover 2 shifts, 7 days a week. Diane likes this arrangement because they can help their clients with different chores throughout the day and early evening. When I asked her what the most important thing she did was, she said it was getting someone to laugh out loud.

Diane admits to being an avid sports fan, and loves hashing over the latest scores and rankings with her male clients. She also loves to listen to stories about people’s lives and their families.

Now that Diane’s group has grown, she is also in charge of hiring and training new caregivers. She said that what she looks for first is a sense of humor - and lots of compassion. She stresses starting the day with a smile and providing new things for clients to think about and look forward to.
Diane also handles all of the scheduling for her group, keeps information about each client up to date and makes sure that her team knows about hospital visits, new medications and anything else necessary to keep them as safe and happy as possible.

In her spare time Diane is an accomplished artist (you can see samples of her work on almost every client’s wall or coffee table). She also has two sons - a 16 year old and a 22 year old majoring in engineering at Cleveland State.