My Week With Your Health Limited

My work experience wasn’t what I had expected.

As someone who has always wanted to work in care or medicine, going to a care home was my first thought when told I needed to find a work experience placement. When Your Health Limited accepted me for the week, I was ecstatic. Yes, I couldn’t be based at a care home for the whole week, and that was slightly disappointing, but I could still experience what care was like, and get a look behind the scenes as well.

The first care home I went to was Langwith Lodge, in Nottinghamshire. Not having been to many care homes beforehand, I wasn’t entirely sure what I was going to see, or what to expect. Would everyone just stay in their beds, eating, sleeping and never truly aware of the world? Whatever I expected, it didn’t come close to what I actually found. The residents were moving freely around the home, engaging in the different activities on offer, chatting with the carers and other residents. It was incredible; you’d almost never believe it was a care home. A TV company, Notts TV, had come to film in Langwith’s butterfly garden, and when we made out way there, you could see the residents gardening, planting flowers, watering them, teaching the carers different techniques. If you sat down besides one of them, they’d soon be regaling you with stories of the gardens they had before; tales of how they would sit out there, taking care of their plants. You could see their happiness a mile away. Everyone I saw was laughing, talking, smiling as they worked together, and as I walked about, they all greeted me with waves and smiles even though I was the youngest there by far and they didn’t have a clue who I was. To be perfectly honest, it was a far stretch from anything I had imagined or expected.

It wasn’t just like that at Langwith Lodge. All of the care homes I visited, including Cedar Court, Westwood House and Rider House were all similar. Though they dealt with different types of care, the carers knew everyone intimately, knew how and to what they responded, what they needed, and they worked their hardest to made sure everyone was comfortable and happy. Whether the residents suffered from dementia and needed to be allowed to fulfil their desires but carefully redirected, to those who needed mental challenges because their body no longer worked the way they needed it to, their needs were catered for, and everyone there knew that their carers would help them whenever they needed it, yet also try their absolute hardest to allow everyone to keep as much of their dignity as they could. Everyone there was grateful and worked together like a well-oiled machine. They were fun and carefree, yet also knew the gravity of what people were trusting them with. They all tried their hardest to give their residents the best quality of life that they possibly could, and keep them at their happiest.

It may seem weird, but those care homes must have had some of the happiest atmospheres I have ever experienced. My experience with Your Health Limited has completely changed the way I view care and Care homes, and I hope reading through my experiences has changed yours to. Care homes are not always what we expect, and sometimes we need to keep an open mind and experience something before making a judgement.

- By Hannah Greenwood, aged 14 years,