So, you’ve embarked on your exciting healthcare career and started out as a HCA. Once you’ve developed your core Healthcare Assistant skills including helping with mobility, taking care of a resident’s personal hygiene, support at meal-times and aiding toileting, amongst a variety of other duties, you can set your sights on developing particular specialisms. One specialism that can be incredibly rewarding and help you develop your healthcare skills further, is by working in specialist dementia care.
There are various different types of dementia, with the five most common being Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia, dementia with Lewy bodies, frontotemporal dementia and mixed dementia. They all have one thing in common; they’re progressive neurological disorders that affect the brain.
The word “dementia” sums up some of the common symptoms which include:
Generally speaking, your role is very similar to a HCA. Your standard Healthcare Assistant duties remain. Your day to day will still involve things like:
It’s the added complexity of the resident’s condition that requires specialist solutions. Each person will have their own bespoke dementia care plan and a key part of your role will be to reduce their dementia symptoms, where possible, and provide a level of security and reassurance during everyday activities.
All carers need to be empathetic and supportive, however specialist dementia care requires even higher levels of communication and soft skills.
We partner with some of the UK’s best businesses, who are looking to hire ambitious, career minded professionals ready to take the next step in their career.
Job Type: Temp-to-Perm
Job Location: Preston
Pay: £8.91 – £9.00 per hour
Job Type: Temp-to-Perm
Job Location: Letcombe Regis
Pay: £10.41
One of the first things to note is that each dementia sufferer will likely be at varying stages of their condition. That means a “one size fits all” approach can’t work. The way you would work with someone in the early stages is very different to someone in the latter stages, for example.
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