why can it be difficult to decide whether or not someone is an informal carer and does it matter?
In order to answer this question I need to firstly assess the role of the home care worker/assistant and why they are so important with regards to care services today. One reason for this can be found in Unit 3. Unit 3, p.152 advises that, “As more people who need care continue to live in their own homes, the job of home care assistant has become more significant.” The idea that more people in need of care continue to live at home is echoed in the NHS and Community Care Act of 1990. According to Unit 3, p.143, the Act sets out “to promote the development of services which would enable people to live in their own homes wherever possible.” I notice then that this takes pressure off hospitals and other care-homes and creates a necessity for home care workers. In the case of the Durrants in Unit 1, Arthur relies on home care worker Doreen and his daughter Lynne, to attend to his physical needs such as cooking, washing and shopping.
I was first introduced to the concept of home care in 2000 having watched my mother spend her working life as a home help. The difference, as discussed below, was astonishing as it was my feeling that both jobs mounted to the same thing – care.
It is learnt from Unit 3, that home care workers are now defined as personal care providers not domestics. Since the NHS and Community Care Act 1990, home care worker’s roles are clearly defined on their clients care plan, however, in reality difficulties can arise. As a home care worker I was constantly trying to keep to the care plan given by my employer and not the care plan I considered necessary. The mood and energy levels of my client changed dramatically and some days it just was not possible for her to carry out domestic chores. I do believe that her care package was too basic and that closer inspection of her abilities to function normally on a day-to-day basis was required. I can relate to Mary in Unit 3, when in her job she finds herself doing “extras” like dog walking, simply because of the bond she has made with her client. Although we are told in Unit 3 that this is deemed poor practice, in reality it is human nature to want to help - to treat others as we would want to be treated. It’s a dilemma – do we go that extra mile when it isn’t in the care plan, when we may not get paid for it, and when we may be overstepping the boundaries?
