Blog

How Resilience Supports, Upskills and Understands

Like any good company – we’re only as successful as the great people who deliver our service. And we certainly have plenty of those! Skilled and experienced professionals who every day give of their best, find reward in caring for others and help every service user find and live their potential in the best way possible. At Social Care, we truly value each team member who is making a difference at the front line, where it counts… And as a priority, we make sure every staff member is supported in their role, receiving the assistance they need to perform in their often-challenging job.

There are many ways in which we ‘care for those who care’. Whether it’s training to equip staff with the vital skills they need to perform with confidence and peace of mind, or emotional support to help them cope with the often difficult and challenging parts of their day-to-day routine – we are committed to being here for our staff. To guide, empower and understand.

Because Knowledge is Strength

World-class training is an important Social Care support pillar – to help every team member go out there and be the best they can be for our service users. While we offer Support Workers all training that is mandatory for those working in care, one of our key strengths is that we have also developed our own bespoke training packages, such as Infection Prevention and Control, and Autism Training. Another key difference is that we also train our Outreach staff to the same high-level as those who work within our residences.

The backbone of the way we work in Resilience is our culture of Positive Behaviour support:  a person-centred approach that focuses on supporting people with challenging behaviours. It involves understanding the reasons for the behaviour, and teaching ways in which they can be replaced with positive actions. In 2019, we wanted to make sure that our entire service was operating in this way, and so developed and delivered a programme of focused Longitudinal Training. Over a period of 8 months, and in collaboration with the Callan Institute (Saint John of God), 15 staff were trained in Positive Behaviour Support. In this way, staff are better able to cope when working with individuals with challenging behaviours.   

Caring in Confidence

There’s no doubt about it – there are many tough days for those working in this sector. There can be times that are emotionally difficult – so we offer all team members the benefit of our Employee Assistance Programme (EAP).  This is a professional and confidential employee welfare service designed to help employees with any work-related or personal problem.  For their physical and emotional well-being, the programme offers information, advice, assistance and non-judgemental counselling in a safe and confidential setting. It makes early intervention possible, and can also refer team members on for further specialist support.

In short – it means our team members need never feel alone, and can access a full range of supportive services across a broad range of issues including anxiety, depression, health issues, bereavement, domestic issues, eating disorders, parenting, phobias, self-esteem, personality difficulties, substance abuse, sexual abuse and family difficulties. Other areas of assistance include consumer advice, advice on legal issues, support for marital difficulties, legal queries and money management. 

Social Care also stresses that we remain neutral to the provisions of the EAP and no employee’s job security or prospects are at risk by accessing this programme.

Building Together Teams

Support is often found informally – a palpable code of understanding and a camaraderie that is built up amongst co-workers. To nurture this team ethos, each team has at least one team-building day a year – and each team is free to choose the theme for each day. In 2019, Escape Rooms were a popular team activity – creating much fun and team closeness along the way.  

Creating Well Mind-Sets

Each year, we host an informative, value-added Seminar that showcases the work we do, and allows team members to learn from the experiences of each other. At our 2019 Seminar, which followed the theme of Potential Together, ‘Wellness and Self-Care was a strong theme.  Life, Health and Wellness Coach,Gillian O’Gorman, hosted a ‘Why Wait, Lets Meditate’ workshop which focused on meditation and the body-mind connection. In a similar vein, Clinical Psychologist Gina Mullis and Occupational Therapist Brian Purcell treated attendees to an interactive session where they could develop their own Self-Care Plan. This will form the basis of a company-wide, Self-Care Plan. 

In these, and many more ways, Resilience keeps laying the stepping stones to staff emotional and physical well-being – ensuring that those who deliver care, feel consistently cared-for in return.