Roseville, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/01/2011 -- Always Best Care Senior Services, named by Entrepreneur Magazine as the fastest growing franchisor of In-Home Care, Assisted Living Placement and Skilled Home Health Care in the USA, announced today it has expanded its franchise support team by naming Tonja Edelman, MSW, as a new Franchise Operations Trainer.

“We are truly pleased to have someone of Ms. Edelman’s expertise and background joining our team,” said David J. Caesar, Vice President of Franchise Operations for Always Best Care.

“Throughout the years, Ms. Edelman has worked in many areas of senior care – home care, hospice, the Area Agency on Aging, retirement communities, and the Public Conservator’s office.”

She previously served as the Director of Social Services at a skilled nursing facility (SNF) which had a secured dementia unit. Ms. Edelman also led the Senior Peer Counseling program for the Mental Health Association, and also worked as an independent contractor for California’s Assisted Living Waiver Program through Always Best Care Senior Services.

According to Ms. Edelman, her interest in working with seniors began in 1981, while in junior high school, when her grandmother was diagnosed with dementia. “As she reverted back to her first language, German, I began to take German myself,” Ms. Edelman explained, “so I could join her in the new world in which she found herself.”

In her new role with Always Best Care, Ms. Edelman will be working with franchises across the country, assisting them in developing programs to serve their local senior communities and build recognition and preference for the Always Best Care brand.

“Training others to grow their businesses and their passion for serving seniors in their communities is my passion,” she said.

Ms. Edelman earned a Master’s Degree in Social Work at California State University Sacramento; during her graduate studies, focused on mental health and gerontology, and completed her thesis on the subject of financial elder abuse.