How care workers can help when a client is feeling low

A new resource providing guidance to aged care workers about what to do when older people feel sad has been released by the Australian Association of Gerontology.

A new resource providing guidance to aged care workers about what to do when older people feel sad has been released by the Australian Association of Gerontology.

Dr Sarah Russell

Developed for AAG by Dr Sarah Russell in consultation with registered nurses and support workers in both the home and residential care sectors, the online resource offers advice on how aged care staff can emotionally support their clients in the best way possible.

“This resource advises aged care workers on how to just sit with someone and help them talk about what it is that’s on their minds,” Dr Russell says.

An aged care and mental health advocate and principal researcher at Research Matters, Dr Russell was approached by AAG to develop the tool when it was discovered there was no such resource on the subject aimed specifically at aged care workers. “There was a need for support workers to understand changes in people’s behaviour,” said Dr Russell. “To recognise that people have ups and downs.”

However, Dr Russell notes that the booklet is not a resource on how to deal with clinical depression. “This is a resource on mood shifts,” she says.

What consumers want

Home care recipients contributed to the consultation process, during which they expressed diverse views on the emotional support they wanted from care workers.

“I want my support workers to understand my values and interests, to know what I like and don’t like,” said Helena, recipient of a home care package.

Guiseppe, another HCP recipient, said the conversation doesn’t need to be formal. “It might not be an organised conversation. We just chat while she cleans my house,” he said.

Home care workers said they were well placed to provide support.

“When I visited Mary, she didn’t seem to be herself, said Geetika, a home care support worker. “She was withdrawn and didn’t want go do the things she normally loved. I made her a cup of tea and asked her if she wanted to talk.”

But some people said they preferred to keep their feelings to themselves and didn’t want to feel interrogated or ‘jollied along’.

“When I feel out of sorts I just want to be left alone,” home care recipient Trudi said. “I don’t want to explain to a support worker why I’am feeling low. I just want them to go ahead and do the work.”

Tips and reasons

Included in the eight-page booklet are tips such as:

  • notice changes in mood and behaviour
  • have an informal chat
  • listen
  • check you have understood
  • show understanding and support.

The resource also lists the various reasons why older people might feel down including:

  • isolation from friends, family and their community
  • boredom
  • declining physical health
  • side-effects from medications
  • the death of a life partner.

“In practical terms there is nothing you can usually do to fix the problem,” said Dr Russell. “But people benefit so much from talking with someone who is really listening and understanding and validating how they are feeling.”

Active listening is the most helpful thing an aged care worker can do, Dr Russell said. It is more than just nodding along politely, but really engaging, she said. “When you actually take an interest in someone’s life and allow them to talk about their life, it makes older people feel so much more valued.”

This is an edited version of a story that first appeared in Australian Ageing Agenda.

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Tags: aag, depression, home-care-workers, sarah-russell,

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