Session 3: Identifying carers’ skills, qualities and attributes

Introduction

Figure 3.1

In this session we are going to look at learning in terms of skills, qualities and attributes gained both from caring responsibilities and through other areas of life. Skills might be considered as an ability or expertise that can be learned through practice, while qualities and attributes might be viewed as something more inherent, a characteristic trait, but which can be nurtured and perhaps developed.

Learning outcomes

After working through this session you will have:

• a clearer understanding of the experiences of carers

• an appreciation of the various skills, qualities and attributes that carers may develop and how some of these are transferable to work contexts.

Carers’ skills, qualities and attributes

Start by listening to Gavin, a young adult carer transitions worker at Renfrewshire Carers Centre. He is talking about the skills and qualities he has noticed in the young adult carers he works with.

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Transcript

Gavin

Being a carer brings a lot of skills and attributes that often aren’t recognised by carers and other people. First of all, in a caring role you have to be very efficient with your time. So carers are normally extremely organised, and that’s something that they don’t see. They’re extremely reliable because they have to make doctor’s appointments on time, they have to hand in prescriptions on time, they have to make sure everything’s done in a certain time. And they have to be relied upon because a lot of people, if they are a carer, sometimes they’re relied upon for the person literally to stay alive. So that’s how important their job is.

Very, very good at handling pressure. The pressures that they handle on a daily basis, many people would crumble under. Also you tend to find as well that they are extremely caring people and that’s why you find a lot of, not just young adult carers, but carers in general end up going into social work or care work or people work in some respect, because they have massive amounts of empathy for anybody who’s needing care, anybody who’s needing support.

And also, just to touch on that as well, that’s something that reflection quite often helps, because with this idea that ‘I’m a carer and the only skills I have is caring for someone, therefore that must mean that I need to go into the caring profession’. When actually, on reflection, we tell them no you don’t. It’s great if you want to do that – fantastic. But you don’t have to do that – here’s the other options of the things you can do and here’s how you can get there.

Also, as well, in terms of, a lot of the time they can be quite isolated, but once carers make friends, once they are in a group, they show a massive degree of emotional intelligence. That they’re quite often in touch with their own emotions, they can quite often identify other people’s emotions, just at a glance. They show a great deal of empathy towards other people. So once they get past that stage and once they come out their comfort zone, in terms of networking and communication, they’re fantastic. But they’re so, they’ve got so much, so much skills and personality to bring into employment and education and to life in general.

End transcript

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Gavin used some of the following key words and phrases to describe carers:

• organised
• reliable
• able to handle pressure
• caring
• in touch with their emotions
• able to identify other people’s emotions.

Learning points

Look back at Lesley and Scott’s timelines and learning points in Session 2, and Jade’s roles and responsibilities in Session 1. Think about their different experiences as you read through these summaries of their skills and qualities.

Thinking about skills, qualities and attributes

First we will hear from various carers about the skills, qualities and attributes they have developed from their caring roles. Then it will be your turn to think about this in terms of what carers bring to the workplace.

Dean

Listen to Dean talking about the skills he’s gained through his many caring roles.

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Transcript

Dean

Well I’m slowly learning to cook. [Laughs] That’s a start. I’ve been learning to cook because my grandad’s not one for fast food. Likes his homemade meal and I’ve been trying, and failing quite a lot, but I’m slowly learning, which the missus also likes. But aye I’ve been doing that, I’ve been looking after the time, you know, ’cos it’s alright only looking after one person’s hospital appointments and doctor appointments, but I’ve got three to deal with. So juggling all of them, I’ve learned how to prioritise and organise and all that stuff and then doing letters, so many letters. [Laughs] Having to do all these letters, loads and loads of letters that I’ve, I didnae ken how to fill in but I’m slowly learning how to do it and banks and all, juggling my grandad’s bank and doing all the kind of, I’m doing his finances and all so, I’m learning bits and bobs. It’s coming, coming.

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Clair

Figure 3.2 Clair

Clair reflects on how caring, and the need to see things from the point of view of the person she is caring for, means she knows how to see things from other people’s perspectives.

You have to think of the other person all the time … so you do think of the way they see things. I think it’s important for everyone to see everyone’s point of view. That’s such a vital thing in life, because if you just think of your own point of view and your own self and everything, then you don’t get other people and you don’t understand what they’re doing. You understand why someone’s doing something if you look at it from their point of view.

This ability to see things from another’s perspective is sometimes called emotional intelligence.

Anna

Figure 3.3 Anna

Anna looked after her brother through his mental ill health before he had to accept professional help, while also caring for her own children and finding her way in a new country. She is proud of being able to cope. She lists the things she is proud of achieving:

Look after someone who’s sick. Look after other children. Organising the house. Myself when I was taking my course at The Open University. Studying. It’s not easy. I’m proud of myself because I can say I’m well organised.

Janet

Figure 3.4 Janet (Library image)

Janet reflects on how having to be organised and manage her time well means she is more focused. She also understands the value of patience.

I get stuff done a wee bit more quicker now … you’ve got to be more focused because if you spend too much time saying ‘I need to get such and such done’, it will never get done. So if you focus on something, then you’ll get the task done a lot quicker.

Patience. You’ve got to have patience. And you’ve got to be more laid back. Because I think if you’re not laid back, even just a wee bit, if you’re too much in a rush then everything is just wheeesht! If you’re trying to rush that other person to do something and they start shouting and bawling, then that’s it. Everything’s all gone.

Veronica

Figure 3.5 Veronica (Library image)

Veronica has been caring for her husband, who has a long-term condition, for 25 years. When he was first diagnosed, she had a senior nursing job and three young children. Giving up work was not an option as she was the main breadwinner for the family. Having a career is still important to Veronica, for her self-esteem as well as for financial reasons. She reckons the experience of managing her caring and working roles has made her more resilient.

I developed coping strategies for managing the lack of sleep and other impacts of caring. I never took leave and I probably overcompensated so that no one at work would know and think that I wasn’t up to doing my job.

More recently, Veronica’s parents’ health began to deteriorate and she realised they needed her support as well. This time she reduced her work hours with full support from her current employer, who also accommodates flexible working. Veronica now realises how much stress she was under earlier in her career and how it would have made a difference to have support at work.

I really wish I could have explained my situation to someone then. The difference between then and now, working in a carer supportive environment, is day and night.

Jade

Figure 3.6 Jade

Jade draws confidence from reflecting on the initiative she displayed in taking steps to gain volunteering experience.

Just thinking about it today, I’ve kinda amazed myself … I’ve not really thought about it properly until now, I’ve kinda shocked myself, just, well I have actually achieved something.

Lesley

Listen again to Lesley talking through the skills she gained through caring, and thinking about how the reflection process helped her to recognise them.

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Transcript

Lesley

I wouldn’t have thought about it at the time, but when I did the Reflections Toolkit, I thought about time management, because you’re juggling so many things, hospital appointments, going up and down to the school, looking after other children in the house. Budgeting, because obviously I lost an income. Dealing with all the things that you have to deal with, benefits and so on. Communicating with lots of different professionals; education, health, social work. Just basically managing stress. Maybe you don’t feel like you are, but obviously somehow you get through it and develop coping strategies. You don’t feel that at the time but I think you get quite resilient from years of doing that.

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Katrina

Now listen to Katrina reflecting on the skills she feels she’s learned through caring for her son. She talks about learning to be patient, how to negotiate and pursuing a goal.

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Transcript

Katrina

I think that my experiences looking after my son have changed me into a different person to the person that I was before. I think that having children changes you – changes everybody, but having a child that has a lot, a high dependency changes you a lot. So the things that, I’m a much more tolerant person than I used to be. I have much more understanding, patience, staying calm. I’m the queen of not rising to – whatever. [Laughs] I’ve found that my experiences having to deal with social work department have taught me a lot, [Laughs] about em, in my work I have learned to realise that things don’t happen when you want them to happen. And there’s no point in phoning people constantly and complaining about this, that and the next thing, because people work in their own time and you just have to learn to be patient. And you can find a nice way of maybe keeping your, keeping your needs alive in someone else’s mind, but it gets you nowhere to get angry and frustrated and upset about the way that government departments treat you. That gets you nowhere. [Laughs]

I think that you learn to let things go, and you have to learn which battles are worth fighting and you have to fight them with all your might, but you have to let a lot of things just go. Because you’re not going to get anywhere with them.

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Examples of carers’ skills, qualities and attributes

A lot of skills, qualities and attributes have just been talked about. This table provides some examples for you.

Summary

The aim of this session was to get you thinking about how carers’ experiences have helped them to develop particular skills, qualities and attributes.

Have you been able to recognise these elements in the carers in your workforce?

You have now completed Session 3. You will explore these ideas further in Sessions 4 and 5, where carers explore how the skills, qualities and attributes developed in their caring role informed their career paths and enhanced employability. The discussion will broaden to consider elements of good practice and how to create a Carer Positive workplace.

Acknowledgements

Caring Counts: a reflection and planning course for carers was written by Lindsay Hewitt and Sarah Burton, quizzes by Julie Robson, The Open University.

This course was redeveloped to create Caring_Counts_in_the_Workplace in collaboration with Gill Ryan from NHS Education for Scotland and the Scottish Social Services Council’s Equal Partners in Care project, together with Sue McLintock (Carers Scotland) from the Scottish Government’s Carer Positive initiative

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The material acknowledged below is Proprietary and used under licence (not subject to Creative Commons Licence). Grateful acknowledgement is made to the following sources for permission to reproduce material in this unit:

Images

Figure 3.1: © Flynt/Dreamstime

Figure 3.2: Ross Finnie for © The Open University

Figure 3.3: Moira Dunworth for © The Open University

Figure 3.4: © The Open University/Library image (model image only)

Figure 3.5: Richard Learoyd for © The Open University/Library image (model image only)

Figure 3.6: Ross Finnie for © The Open University

Video

Video: © The Open University

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