Elderly care professional

Briefly explain what you do for a living. 

I work as a service advisor at the City of Helsinki’s Senior Info. Senior Info is a centralised advisory service for older people. Senior Info provides information on services for older people offered by the city, companies and organisations. When somebody contacts us, we assess which services could help the elderly person in their situation. Advice and so-called lighter services, such as an introduction to the operations of a service centre or different organisations, are usually enough. If these are not enough, we direct the customer to customer guidance. Customer guidance involves an extensive assessment of service needs and, for example, assessing the need for home care.

Most of my work consists of telephone counselling. We can also be contacted via email, through the chat on our website, and in social media. In addition, we receive notifications of concern made through the Maisa system, which can be made by anyone who is concerned about an elderly person living next door, for example.  My work also involves consulting the authorities and responding to emergency medical calls if acute concerns have been raised in emergency medical care about an elderly person in connection with their own work. In addition to these tasks, my workday may include visits to advisory points as well as development work and networking.

How have you ended up in the profession of your choice? 

I used to work in the financial sector as a banking advisor, so I can say that I am a true career changer. When working as a bank advisor, I sometimes became worried about the elderly and wanted to help them. I have always felt that it is natural to work with older people. In the financial sector, colleagues playfully called me a “granny magnet”.

I accidentally came across the education programme in elderly care when I heard about it from a client. I had been interested in studies in the social sector for a long time, so I decided to apply for the degree programme. The attention to cultural and creative aspects in the studies also attracted me.

Describe your typical working day or week. 

My work mainly consists of telephone work during office hours. The morning often begins with a team meeting or the processing of notifications of concern made by residents and professionals in the field. Our team includes public health nurses and registered nurses, Bachelors of Science in Sociology, a physiotherapist and an elderly care professional, among others. In the morning, we also process e-mails sent to Senior Info. The customer calls start at 9:00 and last until 15:00. The on-call hours sometimes include visits to advisory points or collaborative meetings. We have approximately 120 calls a day and 21 employees, so we alternate between answering the phone, visits and attending meetings.

What kind of work environment or working hours do you work in? 

I work regular business hours, that is, from 8:00 to 16:00. My job consists of office work and if my tasks allow, I can also work remote from home. At the office, we have rooms for 1 to 4 people. I also work at permanent and temporary advisory points. The temporary ones include advisory services provided at market places, shopping centres, pensioners’ clubs and residents’ associations and information bulletins on services for the elderly. The permanent help desks are located in health and welfare centres.

What kind of competence or qualities are required in the profession? 

This work requires skills in customer interaction and the ability to listen. Elderly care professionals have to be able to meet different customers and cope with challenging situations involving customers. It is good to understand the different life situations of customers and to be able to put yourself in the position of an elderly person or their family members. Sometimes there are situations where the elderly person’s own thoughts about their need for help differ from their family member’s thoughts.

At the heart of the profession of an elderly care professional is competence related to the service system in the social and health care sector, as well as knowledge and understanding of the psychological and physical effects of the different stages of ageing. Telephone counselling requires skills in encouraging and motivating people. Knowledge in substance abuse, mental health and networking is useful in this job. Ultimately, in this work, success depends on cooperation skills. You need to be able to help and ask for help.

What is the best thing about your profession? 

The best thing about this work is the opportunity to make extensive use of one’s own competence and interests. I feel that my studies in elderly care continue in my work because I learn more and more all the time. It also feels rewarding when a customer is grateful at the end of a call, and ends the call in a better mood. We also give a catch-up call to some customers after they have first contacted us, to make sure that their case progresses. It is a wonderful feeling to notice after this catch-up call that things have progressed and turned for the better.

What are the downsides of the profession or what seems challenging? 

Sometimes the services do not meet the customer’s needs. Sometimes there is no service that would help the customer, or the service structure is too rigid for their requirements. Of course, those situations are upsetting.

Information management sometimes feels challenging as new information that needs to be learned comes from several different sources all the time. I think that I have to be kind to myself. You don’t need to know everything right away, as there is so much to learn.

What would you tell a person considering the profession of a elderly care professional? 

I dare to warmly recommend studies in elderly care if you are interested in the sector. The studies are diverse and their complexity depends on the student’s previous background and education. For me, as a former banking advisor, everything was new. The education is extensive, but the advantage of it is that elderly care professionals can work in very different tasks.

It is good to be aware that an elderly care professional is a new and upcoming profession. Smaller municipalities do not necessarily know the profession very well, but at least there are open positions in bigger cities. Life experience is useful in this profession.

How do you see the future of your profession? 

The employment prospects of elderly care professionals are good, as the population is ageing and the significance of preventive work is now better understood. It may be that, in the future, the promotion of mental well-being and physical skills will be emphasised in the work of elderly care professionals. Competence in networking and knowledge in substance abuse and mental health will certainly be needed in the future. Housing services for the elderly will probably be a sector in which expertise is needed. Business competence is important because there are a variety of services provided at home. Inclusion and the sense of community will be important themes in elderly care in the future.