@BasicBird wrote:
I would like to share experience as a "support" worker who go to clients' home and help with domestic tasks to help clients maintain their physical wellbeing. Clients I come across with are elders who either have medical condition and/or disability. I'm new to the sector and still learning. I view vulnerable clients as people who need extra divisions to help them live the normal life. The values I exercise while I'm on duty are the values of compassion, understanding, collaboration and respect.
While I enjoy the job, I sometimes cannot help to feel that there are people who are taking the piss. This means that I'm treated like I'm their cleaner, rather than support worker. Well, I'm still very new to the sector and I'm learning about referral. I'm not required to refer any services. I'm trying to become a mental worker, so I start in home care service as the first step in the door. And the reason I feel that some of clients are taking the piss is because, sometimes I can see that my service is government funded due to the illness and there're clients who, sort of like, would brag that they'll have their house clean weekly as they don't have to. Like the upper-class people who would have a cleaner coming around.... You know when you pay money for a cleaner, you would command them to keep the place spotless to make your money worth well yeah I was treated like that by some clients. Clients who I met more than twice would demand how spotless they want the place to be. It wasn't because I didnot do a good job, but it was because they had no respect for people and delusional to think there is some kind of power imbalance between themselves and me. Me as a lower position of course....because I'm the one who clean. Yes I clean as part of the job but I'm not a cleaner cleaner. I'm there to help with domestic tasks because clients who some kind of challenge where they might neglect the cleanliness around themselves causing demolishing physical wellbeing. I have qualification for mental health sector. But I don't get to use motivational approach around this type of clients because they don't care. They indulge themselves, wait for weekly clean, and the cycle go on and on. I'm not Caucasian by the way. And the sarcastic of this is I'm taught to not view people who have disadvantage like they're less than us. But the truth is these people actually view me less than them. Walk over me and that.
I do, however, come across some clients who are truly vulnerable, and they are actually really nice and respectful clients and would appreciate the help. They motivate me to keep going.
Thank you for the space for me to post. I'm going to go cry as a way of self care 😂🙂 and then go out and have something to eat so I could go on next week.
Wow, that must suck. As someone who employs a support worker, I've been told that a support worker is like an opportunity or a 'stepping stone' to get me to where I want to be. Even in the early days of my recovery, I had high hopes for myself, and I've been able to see how doing the morning routine thing, going out and getting coffee and chatting with the waiters was helpful to me in regaining my facial expressions and voice tone, and having my support worker has been invaluable for errand running and just getting some autonomy back into my life. Sometimes we'll just sit and make lists of ideas for stuff to do, look up upcoming library or local council events I might want her to take me to. I mean, yeah, sometimes we do do a bunch of life admin errands, but even those still build my skills and confidence.
It must suck to feel like racism is a factor in your relationships with your clients.
