Could you Care?
Do you have what it takes to care? Do you have the ‘x-factor’? Before we tell you the attributes we’re looking for, we want you to fully understand the role of a Live-in Carer.
The role
A Live-in Carer offers personal care assistance 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Live-in Carers are there to offer help with personal care such as toileting, bathing or overseeing medication. They often help with mobility, and they keep up with household chores like cooking, cleaning, laundry and shopping. However, their most important job is to spend quality time with their companion, chatting, keeping them company and promoting their independence as far as is possible.
Each placement and care package depends on the individual customer and their specific needs. Every customer has an individual Care Plan designed to incorporate their existing routines and needs, including medication, meals and eating times, sleep patterns and favourite activities.
As the job title suggests, the Carer lives in the customer’s home and has their own room. A Carer gets 14 hours a week of personal break time when they can leave the house and do their own thing. It’s up to the Carer and the customer to agree on timings; it can be split into 2 hours a day or, for example, if the customer goes to a day centre for 4 hours one day, the Carer can take those 4 hours as a break. Breaks must be taken during the day.
Most of our Carers usually work 5 to 8 week blocks before taking a holiday. The length of time worked between breaks is up to the Carer and their Live-in Care Manager; it usually depends on the Carer’s circumstances and how demanding the customer is. Carers get a maximum of 28 days paid holiday a year, more time off can be taken but it will be unpaid.
At Helping Hands, we believe in continuity of care so we aim for long term placements whenever possible. After a break and a recharge of their batteries, the Carer often returns to continue the same care package.
Our kind of people
The Carers we’re looking for need to be ‘people people’; individuals who show a true passion and genuine enthusiasm for caring for others. If you’re not afraid of a challenge, don’t embarrass easily and feel you can truly make a difference in someone else’s life then you might be our kind of people.
If you are a naturally caring person, have unbridled enthusiasm for the role and see this opportunity as more than just a job, then maybe you have the right stuff for Helping Hands. We don’t just need people to care; we want caring people that we can turn into great Carers through outstanding training, mentoring and support.
