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Writer's pictureYasemin Alevris

Challenges Faced by Support Workers and How to Overcome Them

Support workers provide care and guidance to enable individuals to live their lives. Understanding these challenges and finding effective solutions can enhance their well-being and effectiveness. In

this article, we will discuss some obstacles you may witness being a support worker and how to overcome them.

 

Emotional and mental strain


Being a support worker, you can deal with high-stress situations and emotionally charged situations such as witnessing the care recipients' mental health issues, struggles, or needs which can lead to burnout or fatigue.

Solution:

  • You must regularly assess the situation and seek support and emotional relief to solve this.

  • Practice self-care e.g. walks, exercise, and meditation

  • Keep a journal and write down your day-to-day

  • Always be kind to yourself.

 

Managing Complex Cases


Support workers often handle cases that require skill and knowledge such as dealing with care recipients' mobility restrictions and/or cognitive impairments such as memory loss, difficulty expressing thoughts and feelings, or aggression when exposed to new places or people which can be difficult and overwhelming.

Solution:

  • It is important to assess the situation

  • Always seek access to specialists who can offer guidance on a complex case

  • Invest in the right training

  • Learn from the experience

 

Communication


Sometimes it can be difficult to communicate with clients depending on the circumstances which can be overwhelming, frustrating, and difficult. This could be due to the care recipient often having specific needs that are not met, the care recipient feeling stressed or angry and unable to communicate that emotion, cultural or language barriers, feedback and criticism, and more.

Solution:

  • Always be patient with the situation

  • Use non-verbal cues (such as sign language)

  • Write it down on paper

  • Focus on the care recipient’s body language

 

High workload and time management


Being a support worker can be overwhelming due to the number of multiple services during the day and the amount of multitasking. It could also include high caseloads, urgent and changing priorities, complex client needs, documenting and reporting, communication barriers, and emotional stress.

Solution:

  • Take time to plan your day

  • Make sure you have the right availability that suits you

  • Be sure to stay in touch with the team daily

  • Be sure to de-brief

 

Work and life balance


The nature of a support worker role can be demanding and challenging for individuals to maintain a work-life balance leading to frustration and fatigue. This could be due to the number of services received during the day at different times and also potentially working weekends and working in a high-pressure role.

Solution:

  • Set healthy boundaries in place

  • Focus on the completion of tasks

  • Stay open-minded

  • Creating a routine

 

Conclusion


Support workers play an essential role in changing people’s lives for the better however they face challenges that can impact theirs.  By addressing these specific challenges through focus and better resources it will greatly assist for both the support worker and care recipient. Continuous support is important for any type of profession, especially for the healthcare community, by doing this makes a positive impact on individuals' lives.

 

 



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