Care Plans

Care plans are for those who are disabled and the people that care for them.  I have been with the same Carer’s Centre for 8-9 years, I think.  There has been one in place for me and one for my son Johnathan.  And they have been on paper.

After using an app for some time that checked where a carer was and ensure they were at the right house etc, for quite a while now.  Don’t ask me how long because I don’t know, my mind hasn’t really been focused on that.  

During COVID we didn’t get support for the first lockdown but we did for the following ones.  The care plans were basically still in our house in their place, but it was something we were just going to pick up again when the world discovered the new standards that would be maintained.  

I got a phone call to tell me that not only I would be getting a phone call to go through my care plan and getting everything on the app they are now using.   And that the carers would now be using this app to say what they had done on the day.  Most of it is a yes/no answer and it looks easy to manage.

Having thought back to my very first care plan, how much has changed!  Not that I have a copy of it personally, I don’t.  However, although the fundamentals have stayed the same the execution of what our family needs at THIS stage in our lives has  changed.

Caring is essential and having it recorded and verified is, too.  And it has to be mental, physical, personal, psychological and not be perceived to be a burden for the Carer from the one who needs the care.  There should be no shame or blame for the need.  And as a Carer, there is essentially a part of the job to deal with the “invisible person” inside the one they are caring for.