Many benefits of home care
The many benefits of home care support for clients and their families are well known.
It enables the elderly and vulnerable to live out their days in the peace and comfort of their own homes. For their families it provides important respite and peace of mind that their loved ones are being cared for when they can’t be there.
Perhaps less well known are the benefits that this work can also bring to the carers delivering it, and in particular the mental health benefits.
Michelle Rispin wanted to tell her story, of the dark place she found herself in and how working for Caremark has helped lift that depression.
Michelle, 56, worked for 22 years in the education sector rising to become a manager at a Personalised Learning Centre.
Though she had been on anti-depressants for seven years, Michelle says she hadn’t fully appreciated how her mental health was deteriorating.
“I tried to pretend there wasn’t a problem when deep down I knew there was,” she said. “I was always the one with a smile, having a laugh, and I guess I felt to feel otherwise would be a failure so I tried to hide the problem rather than deal with it.”
Michelle’s family had realised all wasn’t right. She suffered mood swings and wasn’t her old self. Then one morning things came to a head.
“One day I got out of bed and thought ‘I don’t want to be here anymore’,” said Michelle. “I went to my mum’s and told her. She had sensed something was wrong, I guess your mum always knows. She took me to the doctors and I was diagnosed with depression.”
No longer having to hide the secret, Michelle was able to focus on why she felt as she did and it wasn’t long before she came to realise it was down to her job.
“Many jobs are stressful and I’d done this one for 22 years so it wasn’t simply that,” she said. “I feel it was because I had effectively been left on my own to cope, often with 16 kids all with behavioural problems. I’d work extra hours, unpaid, and there was no recognition of that and eventually that takes its toll.”
Michelle discussed things with her husband John and family and they all agreed she needed to leave her job. The reaction when she handed in her notice made Michelle realise she had made the right choice.
“I’d been there 22 years and there wasn’t a word about why I was leaving or whether there was a problem. Working my notice was horrendous, a really bad atmosphere but something I knew I just had to get through.”
A friend suggested Michelle apply to Caremark Redcar and Cleveland. At first she feared she would just be replacing one stressful situation with another however she was persuaded to apply and got the job in home care support.
“Within one week I felt so much better. It makes such a difference to be in a job where you feel you are valued. I am effectively my own boss, trusted to get on with things but the difference is I know that support is just a phone call away if needed.”
Michelle was reduced to tears when one client told her she had made her life worth living again and handed her a box of chocolates.
“I was stunned, it was such a lovely thing to do and gave me such a warm feeling to think I had made such a difference to someone’s life.”
Three months with Caremark and Michelle was feeling so well in herself she contacted her doctor and asked if she could come off the anti-depressants.
“At first the dose was reduced and then the doctor agreed I could come off them completely which having been on them for seven years was amazing,” she said.
Michelle is in no doubt what has turned her life around.
“Caremark is a wonderful company to work for and their clients are the best therapy I could have. To build up that connection with them and know you are making a difference is so rewarding. I feel valued, have found a purpose in life and get up each morning looking forward to the day. This isn’t a job it’s a pleasure!”