A Typical Day in the Life as a Carer
Understanding the Role of a Carer
Most Helping Hands carers would agree that there’s no such thing as a ‘typical day’. The beauty of caring for people in their own homes is that we can treat each person as an individual, making sure that their care matches their exact needs and ensuring that they live as independently as possible.
Our carers work incredibly hard to make sure that their customers’ needs are met, whether they require regular companionship or highly complex care. We look after our carers as well as they look after you, meaning you’re supported by highly motivated, compassionate individuals who love the work they do.
What Carers Do Daily
It’s impossible to say what carers do daily as every customer is different. However, as an example, tasks include:
Physical, Emotional, and Social Needs
We pride ourselves on providing an all-encompassing, holistic care experience for all of our customers. This means we don’t just focus on your practical care needs, we also support your emotional, social and spiritual needs too. This could be by helping you to keep in touch with friends or supporting you to attend church.
Importance of Carer Support
Carer support is vital if you’re struggling with your daily routine. This could be due to age-related frailties, the result of a surgery or fall, or because you are living with a life-limiting condition. Carer support makes such a difference as you know that you will see someone regularly, or you’ll have company around the clock.
Morning Routine for a Carer
Your routine will be unique to you, and we’ll fit around how you like to live. Most people like to get out of bed in the mornings and get ready for the day, but you dictate the pace and we’ll follow your directions.
Helping with Personal Care
If you want to get out of bed we’ll help you to do that, support you to maintain hygiene and get ready for the day. Whether you like to bath or shower, wash your hair or shave, we can help.
Preparing Meals
You may enjoy cooking or you may be happy to have ready meals, but whatever your preferences, we’ll help you to maintain nutrition levels and eat well for every meal.
Administering Medication
When you need to take medication at certain times of the day we’ll make sure you have it as scheduled so that your condition is managed appropriately. We’ll also monitor for changes.
Midday Routine
Whether you enjoy a cooked lunch or prefer to eat little and often, your carer will support your nutritional and activity needs.
Assisting with Mobility
You may decide you’d like to go shopping or visit friends, or maybe just go for a coffee and watch the world go by.
Running Errands
Your carer will be by your side, whatever you’d like to do. This could be grocery shopping or visiting the doctor.
Providing Companionship
The best thing about care at home is that you need never be lonely or at risk from social isolation.
Afternoon Tasks for Carers
As the day progresses you may have firm ideas about what you want to do, or perhaps it’s time for a nap. Whatever you require, your carer will make sure it goes without a hitch.
Meal Preparation
Your carer can cook for you and ensure that you get to eat the things you want, while supporting you to make healthy choices and consume enough fluids.
Supporting Hobbies
You may enjoy listening to the radio, doing puzzles, or taking the dog for a walk. However you spend your time, your carer will make it go smoothly.
Monitoring Wellbeing
An important part of a carer’s job is to monitor wellbeing and ensure that changes are reported. This will give peace of mind to both you and your loved ones.
Evening Routine for Carers
As the day draws to a close, your evening routine begins. You may want to prepare for bed or perhaps you stay up at night. However you need support, we can help.
1. Dinner Preparation and Assistance
We’ll prepare a meal that you’ll enjoy, because we’ll get to know just what you love to eat. Nothing is too much trouble.
2. Evening Personal Care and Medication
We’ll help you to prepare for bed, and make sure that any essential medications are administered and logged correctly.
3. Helping the Person Settle for the Night
We’ll also help you to manage your continence so that you’ll feel confident going to bed and won’t be anxious.
Managing Challenges as a Carer
All of our carers are knowledgeable and experienced and are fully prepared for every eventuality they’ll encounter. This doesn’t mean that they won’t sometimes face challenges though and we’ll support them to always have the confidence to trust in their abilities to handle them and to ask for support when necessary.
We have a team of on-call advisors who are available around the clock to help our carers out-of-hours, and of course, they have a full branch team available to advise them and offer support during the day. We have 155 branches across England and Wales, all fully regulated by the Care Quality Commission and Care Inspectorate Wales.
Home Care with Helping Hands
Because we’ve been delivering exceptional home care since 1989 it’s no surprise we’re considered the UK’s most trusted provider. We offer expert care to adults of all ages so that they can continue living in the homes they love.
We’ll always promote your independence, working with you to devise the perfect package of care, as well as a personalised support plan that will cover every aspect of your daily routine. Whether you need us as occasional relief for family caregivers or live-in care around the clock, we’ll always keep you at the centre of your care experience for as long as you need us.
