Match of the month - Abigail and Gladys

Abigail and Mrs Meyers

Mark’s mum broke her hip and had to have an operation. She was sent to Mt Wilga Rehabilitation Hospital and it was while his mum was in the hospital that Mark realised she needed care that he could not provide when she was discharged.

The hospital referred him to Careseekers and through their Concierge service they found him a team of care workers who could come in for 1.5 hours in the morning and 1.5 hours in the evening.

However Mark’s mum was quite resistant to the care workers coming in the evening. She wouldn’t let them do anything. The minute they left she would get up and get her meal ready ( which was meant to be their job!)

Mark recalls “My mum realised she needed care in the morning for hygiene but she was told she needed care in the afternoon but that was a problem. She felt she didn’t need it, the carers ended up twiddling their thumbs.”

Mark listened to his mum’s wishes and decided to just have care workers come when his mum was open to it. This reduced the tension around the idea of having care workers at all and relieved the load for Mark.

Mark’s family were particularly fond of the care worker Abigail. He told a story where his mum wanted Abigail to go after 20 minutes and Abigail responded “ You may want me to go but I would like to stay and have a cup of tea.” She then was able to win Mark’s mum over by chatting to her and helping her around the house.

Abigail was a typical example of an ideal care worker “ she stayed the full 1.5 hours and she helped her for the better –she is an awesome person, I rate her 20 out of 10.

I don’t know where we would be without the carers – mum would have had to go to a nursing home, it was the next level of care we could not provide.

Tips and advice for getting a carer for your parents ( especially when they are a bit resistant to the idea)

Look at the bigger picture, for Mark, the most important thing was that his mum was having help having a shower, everything else was a bonus.

Listen to your parents wishes. Mrs Meyers was very adamant she did not want a care worker in the evening. Mark had the foresight to not push her on the issue and she ended up being absolutely fine with the care workers in the mornings.

Make sure care workers are strong and stand their ground

Careseekers was able to help Mark and his mum up until Thursday last week. She has now gone into respite care as Mark and his wife are off on a well deserved 6 week holiday to South America! The good news is that Mark’s mum is going to be getting regular visits from Abigail, she has even booked her in for a hair cut in the facility.

To become a care or support worker, please visit www.careseekers.com.au/carer

To find aged care services, please visit https://www.careseekers.com.au/services/aged-care-workers

To find disability support services, please visit https://www.careseekers.com.au/services/disability-support-workers