Strona 1
A carer
Almost everyone knows someone who needs help, is ill or alone. Not everyone however, realises that such persons are assisted in their everyday life by a care assistant. A care assistant is a person who provides casual help to both individuals and whole families who have been affected by a chance occurrence, are jobless, addicted, homeless or on the breadline. A care assistant grants help in a transient manner and in the client’s place of residence. Still, they must cooperate with various institutions and foundations occupied with social welfare.
The basic professional duties of a care assistant include:
● helping the clients with everyday housework,
● minding the client’s health and personal hygiene,
● providing first medical aid in an event of immediate life or health threat,
● engaging the clients in various free time activities and furthering their interests,
● supporting the clients’ life independence,
● cooperating with social welfare institutions,
● enhancing positive interpersonal relations in the clients’ immediate surroundings.
The following character traits and skills are desirable in a care assistant:
● exceptional resistance to stress,
● patience and involvement in providing help to those in need,
● physical fitness,
● good hearing and vision,
● good organisational skills,
● emotional balance,
● good interpersonal skills,
● attention span.
Due to a rising number of institutions that handle social welfare, future care assistants will find employment in:
● social welfare homes,
● metropolitan social welfare centres,
● nursing homes,
● long‑term care facilities,
● health homes,
● client’s places of residence,
● municipal social welfare centres,
● family support centres,
● maternity homes.
A carer in a nursing home
The number of people who seek help from social welfare centres keeps rising. Therefore the well‑qualified staff, such as nursing home care assistants, are in high demand. A nursing home care assistant is a frontline social worker whose job it is to take professional steps aimed at meeting the needs of those admitted into different types of social care facilities. It also involves stimulating the clients’ personal development and engaging them in various activities by means of applying diverse therapeutic methods and tools.
The basic duties of a nursing home care assistant include:
● accompanying and assisting clients in everyday activities related to housework or personal hygiene,
● participating in rehab exercises and stimulating activities,
● organising the clients’ immediate surroundings,
● organising their professional tasks,
● supporting the clients’ in taking care of themselves,
● taking basic care of those who are ill and dependent,
● helping the client’s with disabilities to become more self‑reliant,
● cooperating with different social welfare facilities.
A nursing home care assistant should possess the following character traits and skills:
● good psychophysical condition,
● physical ability,
● good interpersonal skills,
● emotional maturity,
● a resistance to stress and difficult situations,
● natural easiness of adjusting to changing circumstances,
● the ability to overcome obstacles and limited resources,
● strong sense of responsibility, discipline and systematicity,
● kindness, empathy, and sensitivity toward others.
Due to a rising number of institutions that handle social welfare, future nursing home care assistants will find employment in:
● nursing homes for the elderly, the chronically ill and the mentally ill,
● social welfare homes,
● nursing homes,
● hospices,
● settlement houses,
● maternity homes,
● social care facilities.
A senior carer
A senior care assistant is a person who works with elderly people, helping them in their daily lives. The scope of their professional duties varies widely, depending on the state of health and capabilities of their clients, as well as on the place of employment.
The most common responsibilities of the care assistant include taking care of the personal hygiene of their clients (washing, combing, dressing) as well as feeding and administering medications. In the case of ill or disabled people, the assistant may also be responsible for administering medicines, making injections, changing dressings, and rehabilitation. They then oversee their clients’ health condition on an ongoing basis.
The duties of a care assistant may often involve help maintain the cleanliness of their client’s flat (tidying up, doing the washing‑up, washing, changing bed linen) or help with the performance of household duties such as cooking or shopping. The assistant may also need to run various errands outside the home such as getting the prescribed medications, paying the bills or organising transport.
The care assistant also helps in organising the elderly person’s free time. Most often they choose such activities that can help the older person’s psychophysical development and make them more independent.
The care assistant’s tasks also include helping the client’s family, for example: providing information on such issues as the proper care of the elderly person, nutrition, ways to make the daily care easier.
People who would like to work as a senior care assistant can find employment in social welfare centres, hospices, palliative care centers, and centers for people with special needs. They can also be employed to help people in need within the area of their residence.
The basic requirement in this profession is the willingness to take care of another person. Most often this help is required by people who are in such a state of health that they are unable to perform their daily activities and take care of their personal hygiene by themselves. That's why senior care assistants are expected to be very patient, charitable, gentle and understanding for the other person.
A personal assistant to a disabled person
A personal assistant to a disabled person makes performing the daily routine activities easier for a disabled person, enabling them to become as independent as possible. An assistant also collaborates with institutions and social and local authority organisations which work for the people who require care. An assistant supports the disabled in carrying out social and vocational rehabilitation programmes.
A personal assistant performs their work in the place of residence of their client (at home, hospital, sanatorium, care centre, social welfare centre, crisis intervention centre, boarding house). The assistant’s tasks require a high degree of independence and freedom in making decisions, while taking into account the recommendations of the institutions working for the disabled.
The graduate of this field of study may find employment at the institutions working for the disabled, that is social welfare centres, child care facilities, social adaptation centres, hospitals or schools. An assistant may also put their skills to use in the form of occupational therapy classes or individual co‑operation with a disabled person they provide care for.
Assistants work both for children and for adults. When assisting an adult, the assistant provides support which makes life easier as such, but also helps develop the person’s personality.
Depending on the needs and the kind of disability in question, an assistant agrees upon a weekly work schedule. In other countries, especially in Sweden, there is no upper limit of care hours. There, the assumption is that the disabled should receive as much support as he or she needs in order to be able to function as independently as possible. People with severe disability are offered a 24/7 support. It happens that a few assistants work for such person at the same time, which may give rise to certain risks.
Thanks to the assistant’s support, the disabled person may gain the basic skills related to daily functioning and, more importantly, feel needed and appreciated. Every little step forward in terms of the patient’s intellectual or physical development counts as the assistant’s huge success.