Wellbeing challenges and advice for domiciliary care workers
27 Jun 2022
3 min read
Working in a domiciliary care role can bring its own specific challenges for staff wellbeing. We look at what you can do look after the wellbeing of your team.
Workplace wellbeing is important in every sector of work and in every role. Some factors that can impact on wellbeing are consistent across most jobs and workplaces, but each role can also bring its own specific challenges too.
This is true in social care, where different roles operate in their own ways, with their own processes and places of work.
For domiciliary care workers some of the biggest potential impacts on their wellbeing may well be different from that of other care roles, due to the remote nature of the role.
That’s why it’s important to really consider the specific support and measures to put in place to support your home care team, bearing in mind the impact that remote working may have for individuals and teams.
We spoke to Nicola Wilson, Care Manager of Crossroads Care, about the initiatives she has in place to help support the wellbeing of her team of domiciliary workers.
She told us:
Here at Crossroads Care, we start off every day with a morning group chat message, with a simple check-in and wishing all a pleasant day, updating on any traffic and weather updates. I think this is important in keeping everyone connected, which helps with feeling part of a team when people are working independently across different locations.
We also have regular social events to keep us all in touch and help with work/life balance. We particularly like to celebrate staff’s birthday as many of our care workers live alone, and the most enjoyed day of the month is pay day when we all catch-up with drinks in a local pub.
On a more formal basis, we also hold regular individual and group supervisions as this brings a sense of team work and togetherness. Regular information about wellness and our 24/7 counselling line is also circulated to all staff. We also have a wellbeing officer in place who provides our ‘Wellbeing programme’, mindfulness sessions, reiki, yoga and massages. Our team enjoy these activities and it’s really important to us as an organisation, as those who care need to be cared for too.
Find more information and support for workplace wellbeing on our spotlight.
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