Care workers are in high demand, but there’s not enough support for them. As a result, 42% experience stress often or most of the time, and 51% have considered leaving their job because it affects mental health; 72% felt this loss personally when they experienced bereavement while working at its core! Concerns about personal finances due to low income had a negative cumulative impact, too – with more than half (54%) saying these factors contributed to feeling stressed out all day.
The real pressures of Covid-19 on our carers
The devastating onset of Covid-19 has meant that social care workers nationwide are under extreme pressure. They struggle with crippling anxiety, stress and depression to cope with traumatic illness on top of bereavement, which is never seen before in their profession or any other profession today, at least not like this scale.
Care workers are often the first on the scene to help those who have been infected. However, carers are terrified of inadvertently passing along the virus during work hours or when they return home, so many have experienced worse mental health. Studies also found that happiness levels dropped by 12% among caregivers in England due partly to worrying about contracting the illness themselves while taking time off for treatment over there too!
Despite their trauma and continuing experience, many caregivers are not eligible for bespoke therapy- those who can afford it continue experiencing problems. In addition, the social care sector does not have a cohesive approach to well-being; there aren’t enough resources or support structures available, which leaves them feeling lost when care comes up and difficulty asking for help, even though EAPs often associate themselves with employers.
How we bridge this gap with the Zest Well-being package
At Hygea Homecare, we recognise that our Carers significantly take the brunt of the frontline. Without our fantastic carers, then we have no business to operate. We fully understand that the mental well-being of our workforce is paramount to the safe operation of our care agency.
So much so that when we started to develop Hygea Homecare in January 2021, our first question was; How will we support the staff that will work with us differently and, above all, better?
We knew from our experiences that Mental health support has always been a concern in all forms of social care; that’s why we looked into a platform with humans at the other end of the line that our carers can utilise to help reduce stress and anxiety, depression and financial issues.
“Because our employees’ mental health matters.”Joanne (Director)
How we bridge this gap with Zest
We hired the best HR company, “Avensure“, for our business model.
We did this because it allows us more time for our carers; Avensure has helped us establish great HR for Employment law, Health and Safety and provide the much-needed benefits that our carers need to fulfil their roles. With the added support of a fully confidential well-being service as part of our Zest Employee Benefits package created in partnership with world leaders in mental health and featured on the NHS App library.
Our carers have access to a Crisis feature within the app, enabling them to access one-to-one support with a Mental Health Adviser in a completely confidential setting, thus enabling our carers to receive the support they truly deserve.
Of course, we have a fully open-door policy where our carers or office staff can approach us with any issues. Still, sometimes more delicate matters may arise, where the service above provides a secure, confidential space and can help guide our carers through any complex issues they may be experiencing.
Our Zest Employees health app has a team of professionally trained, qualified, and BACP accredited Counsellors available 24/7 for personal and work-related issues. Whatever you share with your Counsellor is not shared with us.
We hope that the benefits of Zest empower our carers to be confident that they are working with a company that supports Mental Health and their Well-being.
Hygea, Empowering our employees!
Hygea takes Mental Health seriously and sees it as part of our responsibility as care providers to highlight the extensive support for those that provide care to others in whatever capacity your role involves. If you want a rewarding career in care, check out our care jobs page.
