Kristin Overton Awarded Distinguished Service Award at Blaine House Tea
Photo: (left to right) Gerard Queally, CEO, Spectrum Generations; Kristin Overton, Director, Bridges Home Care; and Vicki Purgavie, Executive Director, Home Care and Hospice Alliance of Maine.
Spectrum Generations is proud to announce that Kristin Overton, the Director of its Bridges Home Care division, was awarded the Distinguished Service Award at the Home Care & Hospice Blaine House Tea held November 6th in honor of Home Care & Hospice Month.
Home Care & Hospice Alliance of Maine and the Maine Hospice Council/Center for End of Life Care joined together to host the Annual Blaine House Tea to salute professionals and volunteers for their dedication to provide exceptional home care and hospice services across the state. During the Blaine House celebration, Kristin Overton was presented with the Distinguished Service Award for her strong commitment to providing quality care at home and consumer’s right to choose how to live their life.
Kristin has been with Bridges Home Care for seven years. She started as a Scheduling Supervisor and quickly went on to develop and manage our Reverse Mortgage Counseling program in 2007 while maintaining a large home care client case load. In 2009, she was promoted to Bridges Operations Manager, and in 2010, to Director. Since taking over as Director, she has doubled the number of clients we serve by focusing on the key strengths of our agency and by becoming involved in community events.
Kristin is a strong advocate of protecting the safety, security and dignity of our older and disabled clients, always on the alert to spot abuse, neglect and exploitation of our most vulnerable citizens. After witnessing several situations where elders were clearly taken advantage of by family and friends, she provided testimony in support of LD 527, an Act to Protect Elders and Vulnerable Adults from Exploitation. Her testimony was later featured in an article by the Portland Press Herald, Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel. Her Op-Ed piece, “Get Passionate about Preventing Elder Abuse” also ran in Maine Today Media newspapers during International Elder Abuse Awareness Week, and she has since been recognized as a subject matter expert by reporters.
Kristin understands family and caregiving struggles and educates the public on ways to help keep their loved ones comfortable at home and improving communications. She has had several “how-to” articles published in various newspapers on topics such as “making the home safer for those with dementia” and “Having Difficult Conversations about long-term care.”
Besides her media campaigns, Kristin eagerly participates at community events that educate on the benefits of home care and staying at home. Kristin has been an invited speaker at many such events, such as the annual Aging in Place Symposium held in Damariscotta, and has provided several lunch & learn presentations at Spectrum Generations local community centers spread across central Maine on home safety, caregiving resources, tough conversations, home care, adult day services, and technology. She sits on the Long-term Care Committee and the Marketing & Communications Ad Hoc Committee by the Maine Home Care & Hospice.
This past year, Kristin worked with a local physician to offer innovative “virtual” assisted living options to her clients as a more cost-effective way for clients to stay in their home. She has supported community advisory councils at local hospitals and consulted in the development of a community based pilot program in Lincoln county with the goal of proving that home care should be part of the mix to assist in reducing hospital readmissions, delaying nursing home placement, and improving client health.
