A Caregiver's Blog - Building a Foundation of Trust
Gaining Trust
I'm certain it's scary for the client to have a complete stranger come into their home. I always find the 1st couple visits with a new client the hardest and unsettling for me not knowing what to expect. I've always been the shy, quiet one, the introvert of the family. So, I also realize as much as it's scary for me, it may be scary for them. I am glad that Right at Home provides a “Warm Welcome” to each client – having office staff or a Lead Caregiver introduce a client to each new caregiver there may be, and “train” them into their home environment, while going through each person’s care plan.
I can best understand how they may feel by putting myself in their shoes, and realizing that trust would always be the biggest hurdle to overcome with all my clients. Knowing this, I slowly begin to build a foundation of trust between us from day one.
At Mary’s: 1st couple visits I would do the house cleaning for her as she likes it done, making sure her things are put back exactly the way I found them so she can easily find them again. Afterward, we usually have time for a nice chat for the last half hour or so.
Next visit she would sit near me on her walker and asks, "Would it bother you if we talk while you work?" I would say, "Won't bother me at all!" And then on the next visit as I finished up, she invites me to sit and have tea and cookies with her.
She confides in me she is legally blind and how it frightens her so. "Losing any other of my senses would be better than going blind!", she says. She tells me of other aches and pains and is hard of hearing but going blind is definitely the most problematic for her.
She now wishes for me to take her shopping for groceries or to the drug store so she can pick up meds and other items she wants. My job in this is mainly to be her eyes and sometimes her ears. She definitely knows exactly what she wants. I'll find the item and read what it is back to her to be sure I have the correct item, she smiles and says, " That's the one!" and we move on to the next item on her list.
She also needs help at the checkout with her card. She has trouble inserting her card and following through as prompted by the machine. I help her through this process as well.
I'm fully aware this takes an enormous amount of trust to let someone you haven't known for long to do. I feel I have gained her trust and strive with each visit to keep gaining more.
- Donna
Right at Home Appleton, Green Bay is unique at providing introductions and in house trainings to each caregiver that is new to a client. Most other, if not all other, agencies do not do this. It is this Warm Welcome that helps to put all at ease, and is the nicest transition to care when someone is meeting another who will provide that care for them.
There is so much that comes along with the actual care from a caregiving agency like Right at Home. Transportation is also something that Right at Home provides. It offers our clients ways to get out of the home, and to feel like they can complete their errands and do things themselves, ... they just need a little more help than they used to
