Rural work life balance made easy

Age No Barrier for Access Support Worker

Although she is 77, Rongo Curry, does not let age stop her from being a fulltime support worker for Access in Whangarei. Having worked for Access for six years, Rongo gets great satisfaction from being able to help improve her clients' quality of life and helping them to remain independent.

"For me it is very important to make sure our high-needs clients are as comfortable as possible, and that they have all the resources that are available to them," she says.

Three of the people Rongo assists are over 90 and she "loves listening to the stories they tell about their lives."

Keen on gaining qualifications, Rongo gained her Level 2 National Certificate in Community Support (Core Competencies) last year and is currently working towards her Level 3 Certificate.

Prior to working for Access, Rongo taught home economics for 40 years and did contract work for the Northland DHB. She has had a strong community involvement over many years including volunteer work for the health community group Ringa Atawhai.

 

Kate's story

Kate Lovett has been an Access Support Worker for over 20 years and during that time has built up strong relationships with her clients in Ashburton.

She cares for a range of people - from the elderly to the young, those with disabilities, those recovering from injuries or families who need an extra helping hand. Kate's duties vary according to her client's needs and, as a worker trained to the level 3 of the NZQA framework, can cope with everything from household support to providing personal care and other support for people with more complex needs.

When asked what she enjoys most about her job, Kate says it's being with people. "Working for Access has helped me an awful lot. I used to be a shy person but I'm more confident now and I love dealing with people."

Since 2002, Kate has undertaken regular training through Access' own private training establishment, Amida Training Limited (Amida).

Kate has learning difficulties which makes traditional training particularly challenging for her. In order to cater to her specific needs, Amida have tailored a flexible training approach to best support Kate's requirements so she can learn at her own pace and in a way that suits her.

This means that rather than being intimidated by the training and qualifications required for her role, Kate has felt supported by Access and has risen to the challenge of obtaining NZQA Unit Standards.

Access visiting coordinator Lee Wilson says Kate has benefited enormously by undertaking regular staff training to help her in the workplace. "She's done incredibly well with her qualifications and has gained a huge amount of confidence," she says.

With new qualifications and a real passion for helping her community, Kate plans to continue providing the best care for her clients. "I get enjoyment from my job. A lot of my clients really look forward to my visits and I enjoy helping people being able to stay in their homes," she concludes.

My Father

In April I was asked to take part in the three-day medications course that Access was holding with Amida. My first thought was "Oh no, tests!" and that I would have to use my brain but I was soon put at ease by my very helpful Lecturer.

In the course we covered the following:

• medications
• boundaries
• applying ointments
• ear and eye drops
• inhaled medications
• diabetes and insulin and blood sugar testing.

While I found the entire course very interesting, it was the diabetes part that has helped me the most. My father who is a Type 2 diabetic has never really let me know too much about his condition. The only thing I could get from him was that he was tired all the time and that his blood sugars levels were in the high teens.

During the course, a lady from the Diabetes Trust spoke to us. She was very helpful and I was able to ask her about a person I knew with these conditions. On visiting my father after the course I shared with him what I had learnt about diabetes and that there was another course I could do if he was willing to come with me. My father agreed as he knew this would help me. What he didn't realise is that it would also be helping him in the long term.

It has taken nearly two years for my father to let me help him with his diabetes. Since the training, my father and I have been to the Diabetes Trust learning evenings, the diabetes nurse and, best of all, we have been together to see his doctor, who was amazed to see both of us there. My father now understands that it won't be long before he will need to use insulin, which he is no longer scared of. I have also been able to get him to wear a medical alarm.

I want to say a big THANK YOU to Access for offering this course to me, without it I would still be trying to get my dad to open up to me about his diabetes.