Super Savanna starts her career with Home Instead
We had a great conversation with our new recruit, Savanna, about her journey with Home Instead.
What job did you do before you worked at Home Instead?
I was an Occupational Therapist for the NHS within the older adult mental health team. I also set up CIC – CwmpasOT with colleagues to support people living with Dementia through delivering Occupational Therapy groups based on Recovery Through Activity.
What attracted you to Home Instead?
I wanted a nice job that I would enjoy. I like being around people and chatting to people, do this kind of job was perfect for me. My friend also works for Home Instead and gave good feedback which is why I chose Home instead specifically.
What do you love about your job now?
I love to spend time with people, having a good chat and hearing their stories. I like that we have time to really talk to people as the calls are no less than an hour.
What improvements or positive changes do you bring to the lives of your clients?
Being there as company. The tasks within the call, such as meal preparation or personal care aren’t always the main part of the call. Usually the main part of the visit is to offer companionship. Clients say that having a chat is the bit of the call they most enjoy – I can see that this has a positive impact on their wellbeing.
How would you reassure someone who is considering moving to social care from other sectors who had not done it before?
A lot of people who have not worked in care before, their first thought is that it’s all about personal care. Actually, I find that that personal care is just a tiny part of what we do, and quite often there are no personal care tasks at all within a call. The main part of our role is chatting with people and offering company. I’d say the other things we do are small tasks within our role to keep people independent and well at home. But the main part is company and that human contact. I would say the that’s it’s a lovely job if you like working with people.