Young and old

Over the years I have had carers as young as 17 and some into their 60s. You would have thought the older ones would be more mature. Not always. You can never tell who the best carers will be. I used to think young people would never be suitable, then I was proved wrong. Then I thought older people would be unsuitable for me, again I was shown to be wrong. In the end it’s the particular person and their character, not their age that makes a good carer. I have had brilliant carers of all ages.

I will tell you two true, but funny stories of Carers at both ends of the age range. Some time ago, I will give you no clues of when or where. I had an older carer who was just there to sit with me while Mary was out. I can’t safely be left alone for long. It’s a safety issue. As I am at risk on my own, I can’t get into the wheelchair or out of the house alone, I would be in danger from fire or problems. That’s while my muscles are working. In a collapse I am completely helpless. While the carer was there, she made my lunch and not untypical for me I had a collapse after lunch. That’s where my muscles go into a paralysis for a short while. It’s a kind of fit or seizure. I still call it a collapse because when I used to be able to walk, I fell over. I am fully awake in a collapse even though my eyes are closed. While I was in the collapse, the carer was sitting in a chair next to me, so I was waiting for my muscle function to return and I heard a light snoring sound from beside me. My carer had fallen asleep! During her stay with me I had 3 collapses and she fell asleep 3 times! Of course, she might say she wasn’t asleep. Anyone who has been alongside someone who snores would probably recognise that argument. You may not be surprised we haven’t used her services since.

At the other end of the age scale I had a 17-year-old carer straight from school. As part of her duties she needed to prepare my lunch. I asked for a fried egg. I had assumed this was a simple task, but apparently not one she had come across before. I guess still living at home, if you don’t get a chance to cook or are encouraged to do so you never learn. That was the case for her. I have had other young carers who are very capable.

I have noticed that certain agencies have higher proportions of younger carers and other agencies higher proportions of older carers. Probably because some agencies provide anything from 15 minutes upwards of care and so carers work solidly all day, every day. A young person looking for a job wants that kind of work, regular hours, plenty of them. Other agencies do a minimum of an hour. They often seem to employ those people returning to work after children or semi-retired. Sometimes these carers want more flexible hours and so doing a couple of hours with one client, having a gap and a couple of hours elsewhere suits them. These are just my observations. We have used both types of agencies. We have also used Micro providers, who are self-employed carers, and can be any age.

A final comment about age. Some of my family came to visit recently when one of my carers was around. All of them said to me afterwards, “Isn’t she a bit young to be doing care work.” She is 39. But she does look very young. I obviously told her and she said she often gets told that. Of course, I fully understand as I am often being mistaken for a teenager, or is that a pensioner, I forget.

Age is a funny thing; we make assumptions based on it both in terms of ability and maturity. We guess peoples age by how they look and act. Yet in reality we can’t always guess a person’s age nor can we tell how capable and mature they will be.

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