Home Care Ireland

When you want to look after an elderly person, you need to be able to understand them fully and to be able to talk to them in a way that suits them best, so that they understand what you want to tell them. Therefore, all carers should complete FETAC Level 5 Course in Practical Home Care Skills, which, according to The Further Education and Training Awards Council (FETAC), provides the following outcomes in the area of communication and listening skills.

Learners shoud be able to:

Understand how people communicate e.g. verbal and non-verbal communication

Outline the key skills necessary for effective communication by practicing these in a learning environment for e.g. retrieving information, using gestures and relating information to different client groups

Demonstrate active listening skills by practicing simulated situations to ensure that learners have a full understanding of how to communicate verbally and non-verbally

Explain that there are different ways in which communication can be difficult for different client groups.

These difficulties include physical and mental impairments and also include challenges from an environment and/or family situations where people are being cared for

Identify aids to communication in a care setting

Demonstrate effective and appropriate communication with the person being cared for, their family and the multi-disciplinary team caring for the person and their family

Discuss possible ways of handling minor complaints, preventing and reporting accidents to the relevant person in their working environment whether verbally or in writing

Here at Home Care Dublin, we make sure all our carers complete the course.

What a Good Carer Should Know

Caring for the elderly really is a hard work. Not only is it physically demanding, but, what is even more difficult, it requires a good level of psychological involvement.

Emotional pain which arises when you look after a person who is suffering or dying, can be a huge distress and if a carer is not fully aware of how to cope with it, it can lead to their own breakdown. Therefore, all carers of Sandra Cooney’s Home Care in Dublin have completed a Manual Handling Course and they hold an up-to-date first aid certificate and FETAC Level 5 in Practical Home Care Skills. According to The Further Education and Training Awards Council (FETAC), the core skills that attendees of this course will develop, include:

• taking initiative
• taking responsibility for one’s own learning and progress
• problem solving
• applying theoretical knowledge in practical contexts
• being numerate and literate
• having information and communication technology skills
• sourcing and organising information effectively
• listening effectively
• communicating orally and in writing
• working effectively in group situations
• understanding health and safety issues
• reflecting on and evaluating quality of own learning and achievement.

Still, there’s much more to it than just to systematically put these into practice. We in Home Care in Dublin constantly talk to our carers, ensuring they love what they do, because only then we will achieve results and develop very strong relationships with our clients.