How new jobs in respite care support service users and other care workers
Posted on 18 September 2020
At this strange and challenging time, social care in the home has never been more important. Full-time care workers and family carers are stretching themselves to meet tricky demands, but respite care services can help to alleviate the stresses and strains.
Throughout 2020, providing support for others has been a constant priority for families and social care workers. Those who are vulnerable, considered more at risk or in need of daily assistance have been the focus of our attentions during the public health crisis.
Dealing with such a challenging workload over a prolonged period, however, has often left a lot of care-givers feeling a bit burnt out, whether they’re family members, care professionals or even community volunteers. This is precisely where respite care can be an effective solution to allow regular carers a short break, whilst ensuring loved ones still receive the attention they need.
How respite care helps
The effects of the pandemic will be felt for months and even years to come. This means that stringent health and safety protocols like regular hand sanitising and the wearing of protective equipment – including gowns, gloves, masks and visors – are likely to remain a key part of daily care for the foreseeable future.
On top of the recent pandemic, however, our ageing population has seen more and more people are living longer and requiring assistance in later life. Care is often either given by a close family member or a professional care worker for an indefinite amount of time.
Whilst providing care in this way is typically a labour of love or a sense of duty, care-givers rarely get the chance to take a break for themselves to rest and recuperate. This is where respite care comes in, as it can be a lifeline to regular carers without having a detrimental impact on the attention given to a loved one.
Respite care, or temporary care cover, from SureCare allows a trained home care professional to take over a person’s care duties for a short time. Whether cover is required for an afternoon, a full day, a week or even longer, our care teams can provide temporary care packages tailored to individual needs.
Not only does respite care give regular carers the opportunity to take a break when the job becomes too demanding, it also has multiple benefits for the person receiving care too. They can enjoy getting to know their care worker and forming a new bond with them. Additionally, as every care worker has a different personality, they may share new activities or topics of conversation with the service user.
Respite care may also assist newcomers to the care sector by giving them small amounts of hands-on work to ease them into more full-time roles. Home care plans are fast becoming an attractive opportunity as more and more people begin to explore new career paths in the near future.
Getting involved in a care job
During this extremely challenging period, many industries have faced different challenges and struggles to stay operational. For some, this has meant placing employees on furlough or even making redundancies. This leaves large numbers of former workers in limbo, often pondering other potential career prospects.
Many of those will have also recognised the importance of helping and supporting others in their local community. From volunteering at an emergency food bank to running errands for those unable to leave the home, there are plenty of opportunities for those out of work to do something meaningful and rewarding that helps others.
This is where the home care sector can also help those looking to get back into work quickly with respite care services. The care sector is uniquely resistant to job losses and redundancies, with typically high numbers of vacancies and constant demand for services across the country.
Previous experience in care isn’t necessary as all appropriate training and guidance is given. Instead, prospective candidates can utilise a range of transferable skills to work in home care. Strong communication skills, compassion, patience and attention to detail are all considerable tools that people can apply to a new role within the care sector.
If hands-on care and assistance doesn’t appeal to a worker, though, there are many other jobs within home care to consider. Care teams require management and co-ordination to ensure schedules run correctly and high quality standards are maintained. In particular, hygiene and safety procedures will need regular attention in the months and years to come.
By working remotely, flexibly and in a rewarding environment, care workers and registered managers can benefit from stable work and a sense of fulfilment in the difficult times ahead. As more people join the care sector, this can also help to alleviate the pressures on professional care workers and family carers too.