Help
Abacare praises unpaid carers during Carers Week
| Published: 4th June 2020 14:29 |
A WELSH care agency is praising unpaid carers who have been looking after their elderly and vulnerable loved ones during the current restrictions (June, 2020).
Abacare is raising awareness of those caring for others as part of Carers Week, which takes place from June 8 until 14. It is encouraging the public to think about whether they could take on a caring role.
Neil Griffiths, Regional Manager at Abacare, which provides care across Wales, said: “We want to raise awareness of the amounts of people out there who are caring for their loved ones on a daily basis, unpaid and alongside dealing with their own lives and families, and ask individuals whether they could take on such a role if it was needed.
“We know how tough it can be to care for someone, especially during a worldwide pandemic, and we take our hats off to everyone out there doing it. We know that for many unpaid carers, who look after their loved ones, it can be a lonely occupation, as, unlike paid carers, they don’t have the support networks or on-going back-up they need.
“During Carers Week, we’re hoping to show how we’re all in it together, so we’re inviting any unpaid carers to call us to have a friendly and informal chat and to receive any support and professional advice they need.
“They can give our offices a call and speak to one of our helpful and friendly carers about their worries or generally just about their caring role. Phone numbers for our branches can be found at https://abacare.org.uk/contact-us/.
“They need someone to talk to and they need space to live their own lives too. Their need has never been more profound that it has been during the lockdown, when staying at home was the only option and still, now, even with relaxed restrictions, many unpaid carers are not able to go out, as they care for someone who is vulnerable and elderly, who needs to continue to be shielded. The Carers Week campaign says one in three unpaid carers feel isolated and we’re sure during the lockdown this would have been exacerbated further.”
Carers Week is an annual campaign to raise awareness of caring, highlight the challenges unpaid carers face and recognise the contribution they make to families and communities throughout the UK.
It also helps people who don’t think of themselves as having caring responsibilities to identify as carers and access much-needed support.
Neil added: “Carers Week highlights the growing numbers of carers out there and investigates if we’re all prepared for our potential future caring responsibilities, as we’re all likely to live for a lot longer.
“We employ fantastic carers across Wales to look after our service users and we believe it’s extremely important to offer support to them in whatever form they need. If they are finding things particularly stressful, we have members of staff who they are welcome to talk to and discuss any problems with, however we know there are many people out there who are unofficial carers and aren’t paid for the work that they do looking after a family member in their own homes and don’t receive any support.
“It is extremely important that a caregiver has their own space away from caring in order to normalise themselves, even if it’s just the chance to watch TV on their own, have a cuppa or stare out of the window without interruption. It’s also important they have social relationships, even if these are just online or via the telephone during the ongoing restrictions, to help them avoid becoming depressed and isolated and to enable them to talk to friends about non-care issues.
“They need to make sure they take some time to themselves to have a well-earned rest, as looking after someone can often become physically and emotionally overwhelming, so we are inviting anyone who cares for a loved-one in their own home to call us to get some free advice on the different ways they can look after themselves and give themselves a break. We also offer respite care too, so people can get a good night’s sleep and a rest from their role, which is in effect a full-time job 24 hours a day.”
Abacare operates a professional Care Management Team that is committed to providing high quality care to individuals in their own homes.
The large team of trained, specialist, care workers provide positive based outcomes and person-centred care to people throughout the UK.
Due to the current pandemic, Abacare needs to boost its team numbers immediately, so it can continue to protect its service users and the NHS.
It is calling on anyone who is currently fit and healthy but unable to work, following business closures and restrictions, to sign up for a care role and to help in their own communities.
Abacare can offer full training and paid work immediately to anyone willing to become a professional home carer in Wales.
Neil continued: “We’re urging anyone who needs work and feels they can help us to get in touch immediately. If you’ve previously had a customer-facing role, then you’ll have transferrable skills and we can give you full, professional training too. You will be doing invaluable work supporting those most in need, while, also, protecting the NHS. We have had hairdressers, dry liners and even chefs who are no longer able to work, transfer their skills to us.”
Abacare is urging anyone who needs full-time or part-time, flexible paid work and who has recently been made redundant or laid-off, or who is looking for work for other reasons, to get in touch for an interview.
It can carry out Skype or Facetime interviews, so people don’t have to leave home unnecessarily.
Anyone interested should contact their local branch and details of these can be found at https://abacare.org.uk/contact-us/. People can also find out more information about job vacancies at www.indeed.com/cmp/Abacare.
“We will be able to provide our free, full training on a fast-track basis to make sure everyone we take on is ready. This includes a company induction, first aid, information on dementia, health and safety, food safety, infection control, handling medication and moving and handling service users, with the opportunity to achieve Qualification and Credit Framework (QCF) after the initial three months probationary period. The Government has also taken steps to ensure a quicker turnaround on DBS checks, so we can get people into work even quicker.
“New recruits are given free uniforms, access to national staff discount scheme for all major brands as well as 28 days paid holiday, paid travel between calls and paid mileage.”
Abacare’s core values, instilled into every staff member, include ‘make us proud’, ‘focus on our service users’ wellbeing’, ‘communicate, listen well and speak with respect’, ‘be passionate, honest, caring and considerate’, ‘recruit and develop the very best’ and ‘lead by example’.
It believes it offers inspiring work for inspirational people as well as a flexible and supported working environment.
Abacare is a member of the United Kingdom Homecare Association, Ceretas (formerly British Association of Domiciliary Care), The National Homecare Council and The Information Commissioners Office (Data Protection). It is also registered with the Care Inspectorate Wales.
For more information or to enquire about a position at Abacare, please visit www.abacare.org.uk or www.indeed.com/cmp/Abacare. Alternatively, please follow the company on Facebook at http://on.fb.me/Yn4zmS or on Twitter by visiting www.twitter.com/visitabacare.
Report this article as inappropriate
Comments
You need to log in before you can do that! It's only a quick registration process to join the AMA network and completely free.
Loading...
Help