A day in the life of Dacy
Hi my name is Dacy and I have been working for 360 Degrees Healthcare for over 3 years. I originally came from a beauty therapy background so doing support work was something completely different. Within the company I have worked my way up to team leader and have completed my level 3 in adult social care and i am currently working on my level 4. I absolutely love working for 360, the whole team are so supportive. I support some fantastic individuals, the satisfaction i get seeing them flourish is amazing, being able to help them lead more independent lives is so rewarding, every day is different and always an absolute pleasure.
First of all there’s no such thing as a typical day as a support worker because each person I support has different needs, they have their own way of how they like things to be done, so no two days are the same.
I currently support two clients: Person A and Person B, I provide care and support for them throughout the day. Most mornings I assist an person A who is blind but has not always been, he lives with his lovely wife. He is an absolute gent with a wicked sense of humor and the biggest heart. On my visit with him I’m greeted by his wife, we have a bit of a chat while he wakes up properly, I will then verbally guide him to the bathroom and give him my hand if he needs it, he is still very independent and knows his way around his home, once we are in the bathroom I assist him with personal care. Once he is showered and dry, I guide him back to his bedroom, assist him to dress, apply his creams that he needs and I guide him to the dining table where he sits ready for his breakfast which is prepared by his wife. Every time I am there, I always get a lovely brew made which I drink while having a chat with them both. As I have been there constant support worker, we have developed a close relationship obviously with professional boundaries.
My mid-morning shift to afternoon shift with Person B is a lot more challenging. This service user has a lot more needs, he is non-verbal, partially blind, deaf and has Psoriasis. Occasionally when I go on my visit, he will not be home as he tends to take himself for a walk to the local cornmill which he has been going to for many years. He is a local legend, everybody knows him but at the same time he is very wary of people also and doesn’t trust easily. I have slowly built up a close relationship with him and we have an amazing bond so when I am with him I am able to do all his personal care, he is unable to shower himself, shave, cut his hair, etc, so I always make sure he is showered and all his creams are applied and he is freshly dressed. I administer his medication and assist him with his weekly food shop along with cooking and cleaning. As he is non-verbal, he does find it difficult to communicate any issues he has but as I have been with him for some time, I have begun to understand any issues that he may have. I go out of my way to make sure any issues are dealt with quickly and efficiently. An issue occurred in relation to his key safe and I was unable to get into his safe, so another one was ordered but needed fitting. I managed to get someone to fit his new key safe without cost via social media and I was able to get his old safe fixed. Furthermore I was able to do the same for some rubbish that accumulated in his garden which needed removing so I managed to get all this removed without cost, he was extremely happy to see all this gone. My managing director explained that this is asset-based community development for me as it was building on mine and his network.
As a support worker I find my role a perfect balance of being challenging and providing a real sense of job satisfaction. Helping individuals to establish and maintain a full and active part in society is extremely rewarding. Having the ability to promote independence whether this being in the smallest form of just enabling someone to pick their own clothes or on a larger scale of getting out into the community. Also, the aim is to enable my service users to remain living in their own home and retain as much independence as possible.