In these disruptive times, the work of carers is more important than ever before. Claire Simmons and Paul Reynolds, founders and directors of Hampshire headquartered care provider In Home Care, shares how the company’s carers have worked their way through the challenges of the pandemic, supporting their customers and their families, as well as each other.
It would be stating the obvious that Covid-19 has had a major impact on our everyday lives. Simple tasks like going to the shops or commuting to work – things we used to take for granted – have become obstacles in themselves since the start of the year. But when a person needs individualised care, the issues are magnified ten-fold.
For a person living with dementia for instance, a sudden change in routine can cause them to become distressed, and for those with mental health conditions or learning difficulties, the new restrictions brought by lockdowns can bring on enormous emotional upheaval.
Carers and other healthcare workers have played an integral role in ensuring that people needing additional physical or emotional support are not forgotten during the pandemic. For those receiving care, the one-to-one support received by their carers can bring about a sense of calm and consistency at a time where everything else in their lives is up in the air.
That support is more than managing medication or helping with personal care – simply being there as someone to talk to and interact with socially brings great comfort to both the individual and their loved ones, many of whom may not necessarily be able to visit them due to travel restrictions.
At In Home Care, we have launched a number of internal initiatives aimed at fostering a culture of professional excellence and wellbeing for customers and staff alike. Involving carers and their managers in decisions that improve customer experience and care fosters an environment where everybody takes responsibility for success. Equally, where things could be done better, that sense of collective and individual responsibility quickly ensures that problems are solved and best practice is shared across the whole business.
In parallel with customer-facing support through these challenging times, we have maintained a strong emphasis on staff wellbeing. While the nationwide Clap for Carers movement has meant the selfless work carers do has not gone unnoticed, they need support themselves sometimes. A 2019 report – The Beating Heart of Care – reported that 42% of care workers experience stress often or most of the time and, perhaps more worryingly, the vast majority (nearly 80%) felt close to burnout. These issues have only intensified during Covid-19, especially as carers become anxious about the wellbeing of their own loved ones as well as the people they are supporting.
It may have been branded ‘the second pandemic’ by many, but the fact is that mental health, especially in carers, needs to be protected and there is a desperate need for greater support being available. More than two-thirds of carers would welcome support from their employers to manage their mental health while out ‘in the field’, in order for them to continue providing the support their customers need.
There are already examples to follow. For instance, between the years 2015 and 2019, the charity Mind ran its Blue Light Programme to offer mental health support to those working in the emergency services. Through specialist training of management and staff to signposting local support, the programme enabled those on the frontline of helping others to get support themselves.
At In Home Care, we have developed an internal support system called Beautiful Minds. Any staff member can contact Beau Pillinger, our BEAUtiful Minds champion, to discuss any issue causing them to feel distressed, in a confidential, informal setting, and arrange a session to discuss the effect their issue is having on them; and then to put in place strategies to overcome or alleviate them.
By opening the door to dialogue and conversation about their mental wellbeing, we believe we are able to truly understand how our carers are feeling in these uncertain times, and to support them in critical day-to-day responsibilities. BEAUtiful Minds, which was specifically designed to help ease carer anxiety and is a play on Beau’s name, has been a tremendous success, widely supported across the whole business. In the 18 months it has been in operation, it has been extended across all our staff and has enabled them to speak openly about their emotions which has played an integral part in challenging mental health stigma.
When we started our business in 2011, we were absolutely determined that without really happy, fulfilled and supported carers and staff, we would never grow, because growth is the fruit and reward for excellence. Adding between four and five franchise businesses a year to our wider business is testament to that.
Often behind the scenes, care workers up and down the country have long been the dedicated professionals, the heroes, helping those requiring extra support to keep up with their own routines and lifestyles. Now, in the wake of Covid-19, we must not forget that they are people with their own particular challenges and needs too.
Without resilient and supported carers it is the most vulnerable that are at risk being of let down most, and that clearly is unacceptable. Happy, supported carers, meanwhile, translates directly into safe, happy customers and their families and loved ones too.
