The purpose of home care is to support especially elderly people living at home.
With the help of home care client work, the client is supported, for example, in hygiene care, dressing, eating, or implementing medical care. Also, the everyday realization of a self-styled life plays a big role in the task field of home care.
The home care work environment includes several different personalities, great employees, each of whom has something to offer to several clients with different needs.
Students from different countries and cultures have been welcomed into the home care work environment with an open mind. In 2023, the goal is that, for example, my unit Alava home care will have two employees with a foreign background. The schedule is still open, but the intention is that the employees will arrive in the fall at the latest. According to preliminary information, the people coming to work will arrive from, for example, the Philippines. The people who come to work have, for example, education as a care assistant, and their language skills aim to be at level A2.
Students receive guidance primarily in Finnish, which makes it easier to succeed in client work and also makes the language immersion in the social and health sector a success. Students receive guidance primarily in Finnish, which makes it easier to succeed in customer work and also makes language immersion in the social and health sector a success. The people who join the teams have already received Finnish language lessons, so a realistic, Finnish-speaking work environment helps them work in Finnish and integrate into our society. English is used as a support language, if it seems that, for example, due to dialects, understanding on both sides is challenging.
Multiculturalism is a wealth, among other things, because the working community brings with it different learners, new operational cultures, and perspectives on the social and health sector of another country. Based on my own experiences and in discussions with my colleagues, for example, a very good attitude towards service and respect for those in need of help have come to the fore. The employees who came from abroad have also emphasized the appreciation of another person, the customer’s home, and the appreciative encounter.
Our customer base is diverse, so the diversity of employees will also be a condition in the future for us to understand the needs of our customers before individuals.
However, the outlook for the future is that the customer base will be multicultural as a result of increasing immigration.
It is important that the working community welcomes employees from abroad with an open mind. Their potential at work should be taken into account and helped to take root in our society. The social and health care sector has known for years that there will be a growing shortage of personnel in the next few years, to fill which we need work-based immigration. Thinking about the work community, my role as a foreman in rooting a foreign employee into the team is important to discuss things openly, to encourage positively and to appoint responsible people from the team who will receive the people.
Written by
Terhi Eskelinen, hyvinvointikoordinaattori-yamk-opiskelija, Savonia-ammattikorkeakoulu