The client and carer matching process

We have a rigorous recruitment process and take pride in finding the right people to join our team. We want all our home carers to live the Bright Care values; bringing a positive can do attitude and taking pride in everything they do.

Our staff are all employed directly by us and receive excellent pay and conditions as well as a good work, life balance. In addition to thorough interviewing and referencing, all our staff are police checked and, where required, are registered with the appropriate professional body.

Our Bright Care Training Academy provides outstanding induction and on-going training support for all our staff. At our purpose built facility, all carers are fully trained to deliver the highest standard of elder care with on-going refreshers throughout their career.

Our Care Managers spend time getting to know clients and their families before beginning a care package. This means they can make carefully considered matches, finding the best home carers for each client. 

When Nick was looking for in-home care for his wife Anne, Natalie, the Care Manager at our Stirling branch, knew that Julieta would be ideal. Anne had spent time in Spain when she was younger and, when she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, was worried about losing her Spanish language skills. Julieta grew up in Mexico and is fluent in Spanish which gave them an instant connection. We spoke to Nick and Julieta to find out more about the matching process and their experience of Bright Care.

Nick:

Can you tell me a bit about your wife and how you came to employ Bright Care?

Anne was originally diagnosed with Altzheimer’s dementia over two years ago. Soon afterwards, I was recommended to contact Bright Care by the daughter of a late friend based on the family’s experience of your support for him in the closing stages of dementia. I was impressed by the flexibility of care support options that Bright Care offers. Anne has always been a proficient linguist and said she wanted to maintain her spoken Spanish, which became possible through Julieta’s weekly visits. This has been an unforeseen bonus of Bright Care’s support that we have received. 

How has having Julieta helped you and your wife?

Anne has developed a warm and trusting relationship with Julieta. They converse in fluent Spanish whenever they meet here, usually while doing a jigsaw puzzle. It greatly reassures me that these 2 hour sessions are mentally stimulating for Anne, and I would say that her spoken Spanish is more fluent than her spoken English. It also helps me to know she is with Julieta and not alone when I need to do other things or am out of the house.    

Can you tell me about how Julieta’s visits have had a positive impact on Anne?

Anne greatly looks forward to Julieta’s visits, which happen every Wednesday, with an extra Friday visit in alternate weeks. This routine gives Anne a regular structure to the week which helps to compensate for the loss of other activities that she can no longer do.   

How successful do you think the client/ carer matching process has been?

We know Mexico well as our daughter-in-law comes from Campeche in the far south of the country and we have visited several times, so we can easily relate to Julieta’s own family situation. This makes the client-carer relationship with her much more personal. We appreciate this is an unusual situation, but maybe it can be repeated by Bright Care with other dementia clients who still retain their foreign language memory.     

Would you recommend Bright Care to others in your situation?

Based on this evidence, most definitely!  

Can you tell me about your relationship with Anne and how you support her?

I have a very good relationship with Anne, we are like friends who meet to talk about everything that’s happening in our lives.

I went with my Care Manager Natalie to meet Anne and as soon as we were introduced she started speaking in Spanish to both of us. I was surprised because it was only me who was able to understand her, but we all could see how confident she was and how comfortable it was for her to speak in Spanish. Anne lived in Spain when she was young. She went to college over there, she had a lovely time when she was living there and the language brings back happy memories. 

Can you tell me about how you have been able to communicate with Anne in Spanish?

Anne enjoys doing jigsaws, we do them together. We talk together in Spanish and laugh a lot when we have misunderstandings. We have our special notebook where I write the words in Spanish and the English translation so she can read them. Recently I asked her about a trip she was about to take.  I asked her…

When are you going to travel? Cuándo te vas de viaje?

Anne thought I said VIEJA instead of VIAJE.

I clarified no Anne. I said VIAJE, not VIEJA, then I wrote it in our special notebook:

VIAJE = to travel

VIEJA = Old woman

We laughed a lot! I’m lucky Anne has a good sense of humour and she knows I would never refer to her as an old woman!  

How successful do you think the client/ carer matching process has been?

I think with Anne and me, it’s been very successful. We have lots of things in common but speaking Spanish has been really important. When she was diagnosed with dementia, Anne was sad, she thought she’d forget her Spanish. That’s when her husband decided to get in touch with Bright Care. Anne has been able to remember a lot more Spanish than she expected. Sometimes, her husband gets surprised at how fluently and confidently Anne speaks when talking in Spanish.

Why choose Bright Care

If you would like to know more about how Bright Care can support your loved one with in-home care and companionship, please get in touch. 

If you are looking for a rewarding job in care and are passionate about bringing joy to those in their later years, we’d love to hear from you. We offer flexible, well paid Care Assistant roles, apply today.