Interview with one of our many customers
Eli is a featured name, as the client is kept anonymous in this interview.
One of our clients describes how he thinks about his assistance. In this interview we call him Eli but in reality his name is something else.
Eli's story:
Eli says he was born with a hereditary muscle disease. It was not until he was 16 years old that he and his family learned about the disease when one of his siblings fell ill. He describes that in his teenage years, his body functioned as it should, he could work out at the gym and build muscles. When he did his military service, it was discovered that his body no longer functioned as it should and he had to leave earlier than planned.
After his military service, Eli returned to work for a short period, but after a few months he was taken off sick because his body could not cope. The work and chores on the farm have always been important and involved a lot of physical labor. Eli has always had a great interest in machinery and in building technical solutions. He describes himself as having a great deal of knowledge and skill in this area. Before Eli turned 30, he took a disability pension. The doctors considered that he was so ill that he would not be able to return to work. Eli says that when he thinks back to that time, he was more or less healthy then than now. He feels that the doctors exaggerated his difficulties and he believes that he could do a lot at that time. Being granted a disability pension was a tough decision and had a negative impact on his well-being.
Eli describes that he hates to ask for help and he did the yard and household chores on his own as long as he could. In his last years, Eli had to vacuum on his knees because he didn't have enough balance to do it standing up. Because his body had deteriorated so much, Eli finally made the difficult decision to apply for help in the form of assistance. Initially, this involved support to do practical things around the home. The assistance has gradually increased, and today Eli needs support and help with everything, every hour of the day. Eli describes that he is completely clear-headed and it is important that he gets his input in the way he would otherwise have done. He tries to instruct the assistants how to help him so that it will be in the way he wants. This is easier when an assistant has worked with him for a long time, it takes time to get to know and be able to read the situation. Eli describes that things do not always turn out as he would wish. He describes how difficult it is to ask an assistant for help with things that Eli already knows the assistant cannot do, that the assistant has never done before. It takes time and patience to train the assistants so that they can help Eli with what he needs in the way he wants it.
Eli describes during the call: "I've always been a "loner" and I've always hated asking for help. So understand what it's like to now need help with everything, to have assistants here around the clock."
Eli's views on Carelli as an assistance company and on assistance in general.
Eli has been a Carelli customer for many years. For a period of time, Eli chose to use a large assistance company in the hope that, due to their size, they would be able to find more experienced and trained assistants more easily. Eli soon switched back to Carelli because the other company had more difficulty finding staff and it did not work well with them.
Eli is asked what is important in an area manager, i.e. the person responsible for the client's assistance and the client's assistants. Eli answers that it is important that the person has empathy, that the person understands what he is saying and that the area manager is aware that Eli is the expert on what he wants. An area manager must not think that he/she knows best. One detail that is important to Eli is to know the schedule in advance, so that he can mentally adjust to who is coming. Eli describes that he adapts himself and his activities depending on who is working with him. He knows that some assistants find certain tasks easier than others and this naturally means that Eli adapts accordingly. Eli is aware that he should not have to adapt but says that it is a reality and he is ok with it.
Eli describes during the conversation that the assistance is necessary for him so that he can live his life. However, he has some views on the conditions, he describes that personal assistance is an undervalued profession that is both underpaid and does not have a professional education. This makes it harder to find good staff to stay. Eli wishes this could be changed, but wonders if the decision-makers are too far away from the assistance to be able to make a change.
Eli shares his challenges in having assistance
Past experiences can make it difficult to rely on others to the extent that is required in assistance. Eli describes that he is completely in the hands of the assistants and that it is important for him to be able to trust his assistants. Such trust takes time to build but is essential to feel safe.
Eli describes how important it is that his assistants understand him and what he says. He describes that the personal chemistry is very important when a person comes into your home and live so close together. "You're on top of each other all day".
In comparison, Eli mentions that you choose your friends to socialize with, but you don't choose your assistants in that way. Unfortunately, there are too few people who want to work in the profession and this makes it more difficult to find the staff you need.
Eli describes a difference, between care in health care and personal assistance. In many professions, including healthcare, staff are encouraged to think more freely and to find new ways of working. As a personal assistant to a person who knows how he/she wants it and who can express it, you should not create your own routines and ways of working, but it is the customer who decides how it should be done. Eli believes that many people who work in both care and personal assistance may find it difficult to see the difference and that the task of personal assistance has less similarities with care than many people think. It is important that the manager can describe what the work will involve. Eli describes that when he has a group of assistants who have worked for a long time and they have created a team, it works very well in everyday life.
Eli describes that some situations from everyday life are challenging and can make him feel irritated. He doesn't want to feel this way but describes for example.
One winter day, he asks the assistant to build a fire in the stove. The assistant replies "we'll do it later".
From Eli's description of the situation, it is clear that Eli feels that he is being deprived of the right to decide how he wants to live his life. If he hadn't needed the assistance, he would have built a fire and there would have been nothing more to it. But now it's as if someone else is controlling or deciding what his everyday life should look like.
Knowledge and understanding of others
In the conversation with Eli, he confirms the image of a person who is strong-willed and enterprising, a person who manages himself and who, over the years, has built up a great deal of expertise in many areas. Many things he can no longer do because of his illness, even though he has assistance. Other things are possible, precisely because of the assistance. The biggest challenge Eli describes is having people in his home around the clock, even though he feels best when he is left alone.
Because we believe that it is important to learn about other people's life situations and that it leads to increased empathy and humanity, we have compiled our conversation with Eli. Eli has read the content and agrees that we can share it with you.
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