I have little or no care experience. Could I be a successful Carer?
Caring is a very satisfying vocation for hundreds of thousands of people. Some simply enjoy helping others and take the physical and emotional demands of the job in their stride, others have their hearts in the right place but realise that the work may be beyond them. To be a successful Carer you need the right maturity and passion for the task. You also need the presence of mind to deal with changing and sometimes demanding situations.
Most of our Clients are elderly and many are confused or in poor health so you must be capable of patience and good humour at all times. You will be a genuinely compassionate person; always dependable and with plenty of common sense. There is no upper age limit to becoming a Consultus Carer but you should be energetic and fit enough to, for example, help your Clients get out of a bath or to push them in their wheelchair.
You must be prepared to put your social life on hold for the duration of your bookings. You should be a reasonable cook (or be ready to invest in an English cook book!) You must be happy to do housework and laundry and to keep the home you are staying in clean and tidy. You must be prepared to undertake personal care such as helping people to wash, dress and use the toilet.
You must understand and speak English very well.
Consultus has its own training department, offering courses such as safe manual handling (highly recommended) and a host of distance learning courses that will prepare you for a wider range of assignments. Inexperienced Carers will initially be allocated ‘light care’ or companionship/ housekeeping roles.
