Common Interests and Lovely Conversations
Name: Pandora
Job Title: Hourly Home Carer
Location: Ripon
Pandora, aged 64, discovered a career with Carefound Home Care in 2013 following a 25-year career in retail.
Pandora came to the team without any professional experience in care but, having experienced the condition of dementia in her own family life, had given her time to her local Alzheimer’s Society office where she came across the position of Hourly Home Carer at our Harrogate and Ripon office.
During the induction training course, Pandora identified with the specialist dementia training provided in the Contented Dementia Trust’s SPECAL method and its focus on working with the person living with dementia as the ‘expert’. She also saw how she could bring her own hobbies and interests into the time she spent with her clients in order to build meaningful relationships – reading, pottering in the garden (in the summer!), paper-crafts, scrap-booking and generally socialising.
Pandora is a great example of somebody who always goes the extra mile to ensure that the needs of her clients are met and that they are able to enjoy active, fulfilling lives. The son of one of Pandora’s clients commented: “We are very happy with the Carefound Home Care services and Mum seems to have formed a real bond with Pandora.”
Pandora says: “I love my job as a home carer. It’s a varied and interesting occupation. I meet lots of people – not just clients but their family and friends too and build up different relationships with them. One lady I visit likes to go out for coffee and cake be it morning or afternoon and sometimes we will have lunch out if it is appropriate. We have lovely conversations about family and places we both like to visit or things we like to do. We go on shopping trips sometimes to the supermarket, other times just a wander around the shops.”
“Being a home carer doesn’t just involve doing jobs around the home or personal care but where personal care is involved it is a privilege to be able to help the person concerned in such an intimate way. A bond of trust and privacy is built with that person which in itself I find very rewarding.”
“Personal experience led me to realise being a home carer was what I wanted to do and I can honestly say that after several years I have not regretted my decision at all. I really do enjoy my job.”
