To work within social care it is important that you have key experience and skills to support the individuals you are looking after.
Empathy – This skill is important and will be used regularly when looking after an individual. Empathy allows you to understand another individual point of view and their previous life experiences.
Communication – When caring for an individual, communication is crucial. Communicating with them will allow you to know them and build a professional relationship. Informing them of changes within their lives is just important and helps build trust.
Positivity and Encouraging – Looking on the bright side of things and always finding solutions to problems will allow the individual to receive the best care. By being positive and encouraging will enable the individual to progress and achieve things they might not have thought was capable.
Patience – Sometimes an individual might be struggling which might affect how they want to be cared for and how they want their relationships with others to be. To ensure you deliver the best care, remaining patient and supportive is key.
Respectful – You may not always agree with the decisions the individual your caring for makes. However, for them to gain knowledge and life experiences, you must be respectful of their choices, providing alternative choices can be helpful.
Safeguarding – Although being respectful of an individual’s choices is important, safeguarding an individual is extremely important to protect them from harm and danger to prevent it from happening again. You must follow record and report any safeguarding concerns immediately and follow your company’s safeguarding procedures.
Stress and Time Management – Learning how to manage stress levels will be a key skill required as you may face difficult obstacles when caring for an individual. Working within social care involves recording documentation which can be time consuming which is why managing your time is a useful skill.
Experience – Depending on the role, the experience required varies. Having on the job experience helps with relating to the individual you are caring for and the new challenges ahead.
Willing to learn – Willing to learn new things will help expand your experience and knowledge within your role. It will help build confidence and progress within your career.
Organisation – Organisation is another key skill, this will help plan your day ahead and future plans for the individual you are caring for. Being organised will support the individual to set goals and meet.
Critical Thinking – An individual’s needs can continuously change and being able to think quickly and problem-solve is essential as this allows the highest level of care to be delivered.
Flexibility – Working in social care can involve unsociable hours and weekends, but also running over time you are meant to finish. Being flexible allows the individual’s being cared for to receive a good quality of care.
