Jacquie Ikin: What It's Like Being A Live-in Care Professional
Join Lauren Mitchel as she peeks behind the curtain of live-in care professional Jacquie Ikin's day-to-day.
Jacquie's Story: A Live-in Care Professional Looking After A Client With Complex Needs
Jacquie chose to pursue a career in care a little later in life. She had moved to the UK from abroad and was keen to create a new, fulfilling life.
She started with another care company that didn’t work out and soon found her way to Home Instead.
She says the company’s open contact is the biggest difference with Home Instead’s approach to their care professionals. The team regularly visits to check in on how everything is going, and she feels supported by those in the office and the community of other live-in care professionals. “Team lunches and outreach are crucial to feeling part of something”, she said.
Jacquie has been matched in a placement with John for around eighteen months now. John lives with advanced dementia, and Jacquie has witnessed first-hand how this steady decline can affect not only the person involved but their entire family.
Jacquie supports John with all aspects of his life, from the day-to-day running of the house, from food shopping to tidying up the garden, to life admin tasks like managing appointments and ensuring exercise, nutrition, and hydration are kept up with. This enables John to continue living in the family home he has known and loved for so many years.
Jacquie says the time she has spent with John has also really helped support him with things like personal care, where others have not been successful.
Because she knows him so well, she can see the person on the other side of the dementia. Jacquie describes John’s sense of humour, his kind and courteous manner, their driving sing-songs and the way he speaks poetically sometimes as all the ways you would describe a good friend. And after speaking to Jacquie I see she and John are just that.
“Part Of Your Live-in Care Responsibility Is To The Wider Family”
Jacquie also says that being placed as a live-in care professional provides the opportunity to give feedback to the family. You are there to enable communication and be a window into the day-to-day running of the client’s life, allowing the family to breathe and know their loved one is in safe and capable hands.
Jacquie commented that she feels John’s family are confident in her, and they communicate effectively to ensure John feels supported by everyone. With the trust she has developed with John and his family, she feels she can confidently provide the experience and the care that John requires.
What It Means To Be A Live-in Care Professional
When asked what it means to be a care professional, Jacquie said she thinks you need to treat the client how you would want to be treated. “You should be kind, empathetic and understanding, show patience and always do your very best!”
Thank you, Jacquie. We truly appreciate everything about you and are so proud to have you on the Home Instead team.
