Editor’s note: Home Sweet Home is a regular feature appearing in McKnight’s Home Care Daily. The story focuses on a heartwarming, entertaining or quirky happening affecting the world of home care. If you have a topic that might be worthy of the spotlight in Home Sweet Home, please email Diane Eastabrook at [email protected].

Clarification: The second paragraph has been slightly revised.

Headshot of Johnita Cooper
Johnita Cooper is a caregiver at Arosa and serves
on the firm’s COVID-19 task force.

For nearly a year and a half, the world has battled the shifting front of COVID-19. First, the lack of personal protective equipment and adequate testing. Then access to the vaccines. Now, despite vaccinations available to everyone 12 years and older, vaccine hesitancy is abundant. 

Johnita Cooper, a caregiver at Arosa, which provides personal care services, has advocated on behalf of her fellow caregivers at every turn of the crisis. Her latest mission? Improve the vaccination rates at the firm. While a large percentage of Arosa’s caregivers — 70% — have received the vaccine, thanks in part to Cooper’s efforts, some 30% still have not. This is something Cooper is striving to change. Cooper believes fear and misinformation about the vaccine are to blame. 

“I don’t think it’s anything about convenience at this point anymore. I think it’s really a lot of fear,” explained Cooper, a caregiver for nearly 16 years who serves on Arosa’s COVID-19 task force. “It’s misinformation, not enough information put out publicly by our heads of our country. I just think it’s some fear that is out there that they didn’t take enough time on producing the vaccines and it was a rushed judgment and some people are saying that they know people who got the vaccine and they still got COVID.”

To combat vaccine hesitancy, Cooper believes that making information about it available is crucial, as is taking on a peer-to-peer approach. In her eyes, to lessen people’s fear and misconceptions about the vaccine, it helps to speak with someone trusted such as a fellow care manager or employee. 

“I personally think that the one-on-one approach works better,” Cooper said. “I don’t think an employee would be as open to talk about their fears as they would be if a care manager or someone from the office they trusted called them and said ‘hey, we see you haven’t gotten your vaccine. Do you have any questions about it?’ I really think that makes it more personal.”

Cooper is not just outspoken against vaccination rates. She has proven to be instrumental in various ways throughout the crisis. Whether it is securing PPE equipment, marching to local nail salons to request masks or preparing presentations and other resources about the virus, Cooper has worked to make navigating COVID-19 more manageable for her fellow caregivers. A standout caregiver, she was asked to join Arosa’s COVID-19 task force as a caregiver representative in March of 2020.

“The value and insight Johnita was able to bring to the team was invaluable,” Cyril Vergis, COO of Arosa, who serves on the task force with Cooper, said. “Johnita’s commitment to providing care despite the risks, connecting with fellow caregivers to collect feedback and keeping a pulse on how her local community in Houston was protecting its citizens were critical to how Arosa tackled and continues to tackle the global pandemic while living out its mission.” 

For Cooper, being a caregiver is more than a job; it is a way to give back. As a former United States army veteran, she feels this is her way of continuing to provide service to others, and wakes up every day happy to serve her clients.

“I learned so much from the senior living community and they enrich my life,” Cooper said. “This is not just a job for me. This is a part of my life.”