What I look for in a Support Worker

Ethan and his team (from left to right: Shannon, Lucy, Elliot, Ethan, Maureen, Ruby & Keith) on launch day. Each team member, including Ethan is wearing their Team Ethan shirts with big smiles. They are all standing together with linked arms behind each other’s backs outside at the Hampstead Hotel.

****Disclosure there will bodily fluids and nudity mentioned in this post. This is my personal experience of personal care, so this will include my terminology about my body****

Each person’s definition of personal care can vary depending on their individual needs. For me, personal care can look like lots of different scenarios like showering daily, toileting assistance, getting dressed, brushing my teeth, flossing, shaving, clipping and painting my nails, and transferring me to and from my wheelchair.

The ability to choose your own support team is vital in terms of building self-confidence, independence, and making sure that I am making the right choices for myself. For me, there are a few things that are non-negational when looking for a support worker. When it comes to assisting me with personal care I prefer to only have female support workers.  Communication is also a vital part of receiving support it’s very important I can clearly understand the support worker and they can clearly understand me. Equally important, is the willingness to learn how to use the hoist and sling because without this equipment I can’t comfortably live my daily life, so, it is a necessity that any support worker becomes confident with using both.

There are some aspects of personal care that are a bit more personalthan others, which may include dealing with poo, wee, and the occasional vomit, all of which are normal for any person. Obviously, to do things like showering and toileting requires me being nude and being nude also requires my willy to be out, and… that’s where the good sense of humour comes in for support workers as sometimes it can be a bit daunting doing these things. 

Alongside having a good sense of humour it’s important that if you’re my support worker, you are reliable and enthusiastic but most importantly having respect for my mum, family, pets, and other team members but, ultimately having respect for me and treating me like the adult that I am.

For anyone that knows me, you might think this is common sense however, for some people it’s not as black and white as it seems. Coming from years of experience working with and interviewing support workers, for some the prospect of having to deal with poo or see a willy can come as a complete shock. That’s why I think it's important to create a space to share with others what my version (and maybe other’s people’s too) of personal care and daily life can look like.

Cheers Ethan!