HEALTH
Aged care worker Dimmy Cachia says the perceptions she harbours about the residential aged care environment evolve as she acquires more experience in the industry. The more time she works at her aged care facility, the better she appreciates the impact she can have on enabling the residents to maximise the quality of their lives, she adds.
"It just opens your eyes to how much more living the elderly have and how much they're capable of," says Cachia.
"It's about allowing them to live the last years of their life and enjoy every minute of it." Cachia, a personal care assistant employed by Tabulam and Templer Homes for the Aged, says some of her main job responsibilities include assisting residents with grooming and meals, choosing clothes, physiotherapy and socialising.
There's a physical dimension to the job too, reflected in the lifting machines, standing machines and walking frames Cachia is trained to use to aid residents.
She adds that it's particularly gratifying to work in an environment where the residents express their appreciation of staff.
"I feel so blessed that they allow me to be part of their lives," says Cachia.
"You walk in the room and they're like, 'Oh, you're here today.' It's just the warmth and love that they show." Demand for aged care is expected to rise exponentially in the oncoming decades, as the proportion of older-age Australians in the population increases. Figures cited on the Australian government's My Aged Care website forecast that Australia's aged care workforce will more than double in size by 2050, with a varied range of career paths available to prospective employees.
Cachia, who completed her certificate III in aged care at Sage Institute of Aged Care in 2015 (the course also incorporates a certificate III in allied health assistance), recently won the employee-of-the-year award at her organisation, as voted by facility staff members and residents.
"When I walk into work, that's my second home," she says. "I love my residents and I'm protective over them. I want the best for them and I want them to enjoy their day." The next step for Cachia is to complete more training in care for residents with dementia.
She's undertaking a dementia essentials course through Alzheimer's Australia to deepen her appreciation of the dementia experience and to learn more about how to support and respond to residents with dementia.
She says the training available in her workplace is one of the boons of having a job at her facility.
"I'm just learning my job better and how to care for people with dementia and in palliative care," says Cachia. "It's to educate myself to better myself, to understand them better."
– Josh Jennings Melbourne freelance journalist, www.joshkjennings.com