Advantages of Working in Direct Care
After just over one full year of working in the direct care industry, I thought it suitable to reflect on what I’ve gained from my experience working in a group home setting. I’ve learned quite a bit about people who live with disabilities, and even more about myself in the process.
As with most jobs, not all of it was great. Health services roles require staff members to work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with holidays included – often time you have to sacrifice some things. The pay isn’t horrible, but it certainly isn’t top of the line, either. Helping people through their hygiene cares presents a plethora of challenges, but I’ll leave those to the imagination for today.
While there are many difficult aspects of the job, they are heavily outweighed by how rewarding helping people work to improve themselves can be. Through a lot of reflection, I was able to identify some of the advantages of working in the direct-care field, and how I have benefitted from the experience:
Disciplines patience
Working in a group home is hard. One crucial truth to accept when providing direct-care is that every individual functions a little (see: a lot) differently. It takes time and a lot of diligent effort on the part of every staff member to get to know each resident and what makes them tick: dreams or goals, routines, preferences, etc. Some residents will bond with you as soon as you walk in the door because that’s just how they are, but in many cases, residents have a tendency to be hesitant in forming relationships – and they have every right to be. The direct-care industry has an extremely high employee turnover rate, and that problem is exacerbated when placed in the correct context of literally working in someone’s home. It must be exhausting to have to reintroduce yourself and essentially everything about you, only to have to do it all over again two weeks later when a new staff is trained in.
On top of getting to know the clients, the work itself can at times be frustrating – residents have bad days just like everyone else. Supporting people with disabilities involves a lot of challenges, and it’s likely that no two days will play out exactly the same way. People who need support come from all different walks of life, and working in a group home is great practice for developing social skills like patience, understanding, and how to carry yourself tactfully.
Develop strong relationships
As hard as working in a direct-care role can be, there are plenty of opportunities to have fun on the job. A large part of the role is hanging out with the residents, developing trusting relationships, and working to improve social skills by being active in the community (and as a bonus, most times when something fun is planned, the provider will pay for it). Through spending a lot of time with residents and engaging in fun activities with them, a bond is formed through and they will begin to become a substantial part of your life – and often a life-long friendship remains.
Every day is an opportunity to positively impact someone’s life
Selfishly, it feels really good to help people improve themselves. Working closely with members of a group home community provides you with opportunities every single day to help people make good life choices, learn new skills, provide emotional support, and overall work towards developing independence for each person. In my experience, there is a sense of achievement each day that comes from knowing a positive impact has been made in someone’s life. With each person, it’s possible to form a legitimately symbiotic relationship where each can improve the lives of the other when energy and care are invested.
Renews your general appreciation for life
There’s a universal deep sense of fulfillment that comes from working with people with disabilities. It can be really challenging work, yet most workers find satisfaction in overcoming each challenge side-by-side with someone. Often while I’m at work I find my perspective or worldview challenged after going through a certain experience. It also helps you appreciate your life and the things you have that you may have taken for granted up to this point. Although often used as a hyperbole, I truly believe that the position of a health services worker can be a life-changing experience.
Good entry-level professional experience
Working in direct-care is a great way to get access to introductory experience in the healthcare industry. This position teaches med administration, first aid, CPR, disability services, and many more skills that are very useful moving forward in that area. Most companies will hire high school students because of the entry-level nature of the position, and anyone can be taught how to be an effective direct-support-professional if willing to apply themselves and be open-minded.
The list of benefits goes much further than what I can sum up, but to briefly mention a few more:
- Coworkers are usually great, like-minded people that also want to have a positive impact on those around them, and because of that employee drama is pretty rare.
- There are a lot of moments when residents are asleep or just want to be alone where staff can work on other projects, homework, or simply relax while still on the clock.
- Every day is a good exercise in improving practical skills like time management, preparing meals, managing finances, etc.
There is a significant need for people who are willing to embody what it takes to work with people with disabilities – a need I don’t anticipate going away anytime soon. It certainly isn’t a role for everyone, but if there are people who aspire to work alongside people with big, awesome personalities with even bigger dreams, I strongly recommend taking a look at becoming a health services worker – I guarantee you will be welcomed in with open arms.
