4 Steps Guest Blog: “The staff who work for my son will tell you it’s not only good fun, but they have grown so much from supporting him”

There is no doubt it is difficult to recruit support staff roles currently. There are many reasons for this, poor wages being one of the main ones, but I also believe that the pandemic and how care is now perceived by wider society is also having a huge impact.

Throughout the pandemic care was primarily reduced to a shrinking number of care workers providing short visits to multiple people at a time. Mainly providing personal care to those who were elderly, unwell, or requiring end of life care. While this type of support is incredibly important it is only part of the social care picture. Many of us have loved ones who are children, teenagers, and young adults, or grown-up children, brothers and sisters who have support needs because of disability.

I would argue that this group of people is often overlooked by the mainstream press whenever there is a news piece on social care. There may be many reasons for this, amongst them how complicated it would be to describe their support needs briefly in an article.

While personal care is an essential element of social care, in reality it’s a very small part of what people need to live the life they want. We need to also focus on how social care should help people to live a rich and full life and not just an existence of being clean, fed and often lonely and bored.

Using the passions and interests of our loved ones to find support is one solution to the workforce crisis. It is also a great model for more personalised care.

Our son is an adventurer who loves to explore new places, going for a run in the car for a hot chocolate. He loves fish and chips followed by an ice-cream. He’s a collector of rare books, so likes to visit charity shops to add to his collection. He is an artist and photographer. He is a whizz when it comes to technology has a wicked sense of humour, and the most infectious laugh. He loves to eat out and enjoys home cooked food too.

When we have advertised for staff in the past and listed his diagnosis, and that sometimes he requires 2:1 support, lovely people apply, but they share none of his interests, they are usually older, very experienced, and come with a notion of what support should look like for someone with complex needs, and that notion doesn’t align with ours.

When we advertise for people that love to drive, are artists and up for a laugh, have a passion for books, are into technology, and enjoying eating out and cooking, we get a completely different kind of applicant. Once we think they are a good fit we then teach them the technical stuff about how to support him.

If your child wants to go to ballet lessons, ask some of the teenagers who attend if they want a part-time job. If they want to go to Beavers, try a Venture Scout. If your husband always enjoyed bowls, ask at their club who could support them. If they want to go to the gym, ask for a gym buddy. If they want to learn to cook, find someone who also wants to learn to support them. If they enjoy live music find someone who likes the same type of gigs. Not only will it be a better experience for your loved one, but a relationship may also grow from it which is and bonus for everyone involved.

We have been conditioned by the system and society that only a particular type of person can support disabled people. It is simply not true. Instead of paying staff a fair wage, staff are called ‘brave’ or ‘kind-hearted’, leading those that don’t see themselves as altruistic to think they need not apply.

Alongside improving the pay and conditions for the health and social care workforce, we also need to change the narrative. The staff who work for my son will tell you that it’s not only rewarding and good fun – but they have learned and grown so much themselves from supporting him.

Jaynie Mitchell is Rural and Island Engagement Worker for the Coalition of Carers in Scotland

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