A Career In Care

A career in care is not just a carer.

A job in care is much more than that. It is a career with the opportunities to develop yourself, your knowledge and your skills in order to continue to progress through your career.

See below the variety of career paths which you can follow through apprenticeships. There are roles in care to develop to a Registered Manager, Registered Nurse, Team leaders and careers within the kitchen, administration, HR and so many more roles.

Level 2
Adult Care Worker - Support Worker

When you begin a career in care you will either have or be working towards Level 2 Adult Care Worker. On completion of this programme, you will be able to help adults with their care and support needs, enabling them to have control and choice in their lives which is at the heart of person centred care.

Level 3
Lead Adult Care Worker - Team Leader

The lead adult care role includes the additional responsibilities of providing leadership guidance and direction at the point of delivery of care and support. The lead adult care worker may have delegated responsibility for supervision, direction of others and associated levels of autonomy and accountability.

Level 4
Lead Practitioner in Adult Social Care - Deputy Manager

A Lead Practitioner has a greater depth of knowledge and expertise of particular conditions being experienced by the user of services. They will have specialist skills and knowledge in their area of responsibilities which will allow them to lead in areas such as care needs assessment, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, rehabilitation and enablement, telecare and assistive technology. They will be a coach and mentor to others and will have a role in assessing performance and quality of care delivery.

Level 5
Leader in Adult Care - Registered Manager

The Leader in Adult Care will guide and inspire teams to make positive differences to someone’s life when they are faced with physical, practical, social, emotional, psychological or intellectual challenges. They will be a leader of the care team and will develop and implement a values-based culture at a service or unit level. They may be responsible for business development, financial control, organisational resilience and continuity as well as for managing risk and leading on organisational change.

Social care can take the form of many different types which will suit different people.It is 365 days a year job 24 hours a day to ensure that individuals receive the care they are entitled to and need. Listed below are the varieties of different care settings which are available.The Kings Fund has some great information to help you decide what setting you would prefer a job in.

Domiciliary care staff offer support to individuals in their own home with various household tasks, personal care and other activities which allows individuals to maintain their independence and quality of life. Domiciliary care workers ensure the service users they are visiting are keeping their quality of life and will be an essential part of their daily routine. You could be supporting individuals with learning difficulties, mental health problems, sensory impairment or physical disabilities.

As a domiciliary care staff member will usually visit individuals on your own or with another member of staff- dependent on the individuals needs. Many companies will require members of staff to drive – and have access to a car or willing to utilise public transport as travelling is required to get to each individual.

When applying for jobs in this sector ensure you are finding out the expectations from the company, as to whether you need to be driving for the role advertised.

A residential care home is a setting where several individuals live, usually in single rooms, and have access to on-site care services.

A residential care home provides personal care and assistance with daily tasks for the residents with the aim to ensure the care home is a simulation of their own homes and the individuals are comfortable where they are living. There are some homes which are registered to meet specific needs such as: dementia, terminal illnesses or learning disabilities.

These homes can house several service users dependent on their specific needs, the size of the home and the delivery of care. Care homes run differently dependent on this – for example a day in a Learning Disability home for young adults will carry out different daily tasks compared to a residential home for older adults with dementia.

A nursing home is a place for people who don't need to be in a hospital but can't be cared for at home. Most nursing homes have nursing aides and skilled nurses on hand 24 hours a day

Some nursing homes are set up like a hospital. The staff provides medical care, as well as physical, speech and occupational therapy. There might be a nurses' station on each floor. Other nursing homes try to be more like home. They try to have a neighbourhood feel. Often, they don't have a fixed day-to-day schedule, and kitchens might be open to residents. Staff members are encouraged to develop relationships with residents.

Some nursing homes have special care units for people with serious memory problems such as Alzheimer's disease. Some will let couples live together. Nursing homes are not only for older adults, but for anyone who requires 24-hour care.

A day centre can be managed privately, by the council or by the NHS.

Day centres aims are to ensure that social isolation does not occur for individuals. Day centres can offer a variety of services for the individuals attending- such as meals, activities and gives them an opportunity to meet new people and continue to socialise. Day centre staff can sometimes be required to deliver personal care for individuals attending.

Day centres can offer a respite service for individuals who need full time care which is being delivered by family members. The respite can offer a change of scenery for the service users and gives the full-time carer time off for themselves- an important situation for all involved.

Rehabilitation is available to support a variety of needs for individuals who need support to go back into independent living in the community.

This could be for individuals who are recovering from illness; such as a stroke or needing support to live a life which is drug and/or alcohol free.

These programmes are usually offered in a residential setting with the aim to get the individual back into the community.

Shared lives schemes support adults with learning disabilities, mental health problems or other needs that make it harder for them to live on their own.

The schemes match someone who needs care with an approved carer. The carer shares their family and community life, and gives care and support to the individual.Some people move in with their shared lives carer, while others are regular daytime visitors.

Some combine daytime and overnight visits- dependent on the individuals needs and preferences.

Let's work together.

Apply for Roles

As part of the development of recruitment around the care sector in Kent - Kent Care Professionals have a number of roles live and readily available now. Please click here to search for those roles and apply for your next step in social care in Kent.

Get Started

Register your Interest

Get started on your journey today and join the social care professional movement.  Let us know a little bit about you and our team will get working on sourcing you your next role. We can’t wait to hear from you.

NHS Kent Community Health
IDT innovation team
Kent County Council
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