Saturday, 7 August 2021 is Aged Care Employee Day. To acknowledge and thank our vital aged care workers, healthy@home is profiling some of the valued staff employed by the service providers in our consortium.
AGED care support worker isn’t a job title that comes up much – if at all – when school guidance officers discuss future career paths with students. And 25-year-old Zoe Atterbury, who joined Co.As.It Community Services as a community care worker in March, admits she didn’t even know the sort of work she does now even existed.
So becoming a support worker wasn’t on her radar when she was thinking about her future career.
“It was never spoken about at school as something you can do for a future job. If they talk about health care it is about nurses or doctors,” she says.
Although she came into the position more by chance than planning, Zoe adores her job and now considers it her career path.
Her clients may be surprised when she walks through the door, but Zoe quickly has them at ease.
Despite her comparative youth, she quickly gains their trust with her empathy, enthusiasm and passion for the job.
“Every person I see for the first time is surprised that I am so young and ask me if I enjoy doing this. I love it,” she says.
“I’ve met so many interesting people and I love hearing about their lives.”
“You might be the only person they see that day, so it’s really nice to let people know that someone cares about them,” Zoe says.
Finding her calling in aged care
Zoe had been working in government administration when she decided to do a TAFE Certificate IV in Disability, seeing it as a way to help other people and imagining herself working in the disability sector.
But once she discovered aged care, she knew that it was where she wanted to be.
“Supporting older people and learning their stories was the way to go,” she says. “You are working close to them in their own homes and can make a big difference to someone’s life with simple things like taking out the bins or making them some toast.”
Zoe describes her work as being anything and everything to do with helping people remain living at home, from personal care and showering to cooking, laundry, shopping, dog walking and simply companionship.
She already has a lot of regular clients, and sometimes does fill-in shifts, seeing six people each day.
“It’s non-stop going house to house but every client you see is a new person, so every hour of the day is different,” she says. “There is a lot of trust and responsibility, but I treat each one like my own family member.”
Flexibility and more as a support worker
Zoe also loves the flexibility of the work. She has a young son so working three days during the week and weekends sits well with her home life.
“Lots of my clients love knowing that I have a little boy and they always ask about him,” she says. “People gain trust over time as well. It’s really nice when you build up a friendship.”
She is concerned there is an aged care stereotype that is all wrong and thinks images of nursing homes in the news have created the public perception that staff don’t treat people well.
“It’s unfair criticism. We actually do care so very much and just want to help people stay in their own home for as long as possible,” she says. “Often they have children or other family members trying to look after them as best they can. We can give the carers some respite and make it possible for their parents to continue living at home.”
Zoe has no doubt she wants to continue working in the aged care industry and has plans to undertake further studies, such as a Diploma in Dementia Care.
She hopes one day to become a coordinator working out care plans for clients and working with the support workers.
“I would encourage younger people to get into aged care,” she says. “You have to be a positive and empathetic person. If you don’t love it, you won’t be able to do it, but the rewards are great.
“I feel quite privileged getting to know these interesting people from so many different backgrounds. I’m lucky to be able to do that,” Zoe says.
MAIN PHOTO: Co.As.It Community Services support worker Zoe Atterbury (photo supplied).
So great to see this young girl is loving the industry.
She sounds lovely, I’d love for her to be looking after my parents when they need assistance.
Great job Zoe 🙂
Congratulations Zoe! Well done xx