The ultimate aim of a carer is to help a person in their care ensure that all of their needs are met, but exactly what these needs are will often depend significantly on the person in question.
For some people, the focus is on round-the-clock live-in care to ensure that care can be provided in the middle of the night and avoid a potential emergency, whilst for others the goal is to maintain independence as much as possible.
Whilst care packages often prioritise medical needs first as the bottom part of Maslow’s pyramid, every other need is also important, and a care package needs to bear them in mind to ensure that someone not only lives, but lives their best life.
The topmost part of the pyramid, self-actualisation, is often where care assessments start, and why there is a focus on ensuring people get to stay in their own home and live as independently as possible.
Not all care packages prioritise personal care, as some people need emotional support and help around the house more than a traditional domiciliary care package.
This is where companion care comes in, but finding the right companion care is not just about finding someone who can help with everything that needs doing, but also about finding someone who is the right fit.
How do you find the right companion carer? Here are some tips for what to look for, what questions to ask yourself or your loved one before hiring a companion carer, and whether skills or personality are more important in the hiring process.
What Is Companion Care?
One of the biggest concerns and worries for many people as they get older is social isolation; as it becomes harder to stay active, get out and about and engage with your local community, it is easy to lose touch with friends and neighbours. This is especially true if you have recently moved or need to move for care reasons.
A carer can often help support and provide companionship for the people they look after, but not everyone needs one to help with regular personal care needs.
Instead, a companion carer can focus on ensuring your loved one is looked after, is taken care of, has someone to talk to every day, and has the opportunity to thrive and live their best life.
It can sometimes be a long-term arrangement for someone who is otherwise housebound due to health or mobility issues, or it can be a temporary arrangement to help someone with grief or illness.
Duties Of A Companion Carer
A companion carer’s duties can vary, but they tend to focus on:
- – Providing emotional support, whether it is tea and a chat or de facto counselling
- – Running errands, both in and out of the house
- – Providing reminders to take medication (although not typically helping them to take it)
- – Scheduling and managing appointments
- – Household tasks such as light cleaning and tidying, washing clothes, gardening, pet care and scrubbing dishes
- – Preparing meals and eating with the person under their care
- – Transportation to appointments, social clubs and events
- – Helping ensure a loved one is entertained, can engage with hobbies and interests, as well as ensuring they keeping active
Home Companion Care Vs Live-In Companion Care
Companion care is exceptionally flexible; it can range from a couple of hours a week to check in, make sure someone is doing okay or help with specific tasks, to a live-in care and support arrangement depending on the needs of your loved one.
In general, the latter is typically integrated into other live-in care arrangements, typically to help with complex physical or mental health needs.
A live-in companion might be suitable, for example, for someone who is in the early symptomatic stages of dementia or Parkinson’s disease, where they can typically take care of themselves and manage their own needs but have flare-ups which mean they require more support at inopportune times.
By contrast, home companion care takes the form of regular visits scheduled around your loved one’s needs.
This is often the case if transport to events and appointments is part of the care package; a companion carer can schedule visits to ensure they get to their meeting place, have a wonderful time and then get taken back.
Do Skills Or Personality Matter More In Companion Care?
Because companion care is based so closely on the needs of your loved one, their duties and thus the skills they need to thrive in the role could vary considerably, and it is important to check the credentials of the carer and the agency they are working for before hiring anyone.
This is particularly true if a companion carer’s job overlaps with some personal care needs, but given that the focus of companion care is companionship, do these skills matter more than having the right personality fit?
Ultimately, most companion carers will not be involved in personal care or nursing tasks; these require certification and qualifications, and clear boundaries will be set at a very early stage.
As many of the tasks around the house are relatively light in nature and of the type that a friend or family member would do for someone, what matters most is ensuring that the carer is a good fit for the loved one they are looking after.
Some personality traits can be learned as soft skills; communication skills can be taught, professionalism is often about understanding why boundaries and rules exist, reliability is a matter of personal care and scheduling, and ongoing education solidifies these and other vital skills.
However, it is difficult to teach genuine compassion, patience and warm-hearted communication styles, and much like how some people simply do not mesh together in a social setting, some companion carers do not fit a loved one’s communication style.
Ultimately, mutual interests, similar personality types and being adaptable are vital traits found in the best companion carers.
Questions To Ask A Companion Carer To See If They Are A Good Fit
- – What experience do you have in companion care?
- – How available are you, and is there a chance you can come over if there is an emergency?
- – What support and care are you comfortable providing?
- What are the boundaries and expectations you have?
- – How will communication and chats work?
- – What would a typical companion care visit look like?
