Why care work is a great job for older people

As people reach later life and enter retirement, they can often feel an increased desire to give something back to their local community. They may also not want to lose the social interactions they experienced during their career or through raising a family. As a result, older people can gain a lot from a care role that will keep them active, meeting new people and feeling valued.

Whilst it is still vitally important to bring young people into these roles, academic and workplace research has shown that, with the exception of student nurses and those with a calling, older workers consistently make better frontline staff and there are many reasons for this.

Life experience and maturity

With age comes the highs and lows of life experience.

Older workers may have cared for parents or raised children and these relationships build empathy and patience for those who need greater levels of safe keeping

Require less supervision

Older workers are less likely to need support as they have confidence relating to others which is especially helpful in a busy care home environment

Settled

People are more likely to put down roots as they get older and settle in one place. As a result, they are less likely to leave one job for a new one. Recruiting older people is a great way to bring in a local workforce

Financially secure

Older workers are less likely to have the financial burdens, like raising a family, that younger workers do. It is these financial pressures that often encourage people to move jobs for better pay

Job satisfaction

Mature workers are generally more invested in care work as they place a higher value on the rewards of frontline care and gain greater job satisfaction from as a result

Becoming a carer isn’t often a career choice considered by older people or those who’ve just retired however, recruiting from an older generation could be a fantastic way to bring in much needed staff to a care home.

Neil is a committed expert on workforce planning, recruitment and retention for the care home sector.#12;

If you would like to know more about this subject, then purchasing Neil Eastwood’s book ‘Saving Social Care’ should be your very next move.

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