What does a support worker do?

Find out more about what it means to be a support worker at Precious

Support workers play a vital role in supporting people with learning disabilities, autism, physical disabilities, mental health needs, communication difficulties and/or complex health needs to live independently.

Support workers provide the physical and emotional support that someone might need to achieve their goals. Every individual that we support has a unique personality, sense of humour, preferences, needs and aspirations. This makes the role of a support worker incredibly varied, which is one of the things that many people love about the job!

What does a support worker do?

As a support worker, your role is to support people to do the things that matter most to them. The role is focused on supporting people to live their lives as independently as they can, keeping them safe, helping them to make choices, and ensuring that they lead full and rich lives in their community.

You will provide care and support to people either in their own homes or within one of our supported living or residential services. The support you give to each person will depend very much on their individual needs and is focussed on doing ‘with people’ not ‘for people’.

Your role is to support people to be as independent as they can. As well as day to day support, this will include supporting people with tasks around their home such as cooking and cleaning, going out, taking part in activities and attending college/work or going on holiday.

Working as part of a small but caring team, in a set service or locality, you will have a dedicated management team to support you and Precious will equip you with the skills and ongoing mentoring that you need to do your job to the best of your ability.

As a support worker, seeing people grow, achieve and learn new things motivates me to do a great job and provide the very best support I can

Nikita, Support Worker

The role of a support worker includes

Current vacancies

Daily living and independent skills

Helping people to get organised, plan their day, clean, meal-plan and shop.

Socialising

Helping people meet friends and stay in touch with loved ones.

Supporting communication

Helping people who may have communication difficulties by making information accessible, and supporting them to express themselves and make choices.

Keeping active

Accessing the community and taking part in activities such as swimming, dance class, cinema, theatre trips and football.

Medicine management

Working with health professionals to support any medical needs, including making and attending any necessary appointments or administering medication.

Budgeting

Including day to day money management and financial support. Supporting people to maintain their own tenancies in our supported living services.

Goals and aspirations

Supporting people to achieve their short and long terms goals, which could be anything from cooking a meal or doing washing up, to attending college or university or going on day trips and holidays.

Delivering individual support plans

Following a dedicated person-centered support plan. Including involving the person you support at every step, updating our Nourish system, key worker sessions, goal setting and ‘talk time’.

Education

Researching, applying for and attending college courses, and helping to find and attend voluntary opportunities.

Providing emotional and behavioural support

Being on hand to guide and advise, listen and understand, build confidence and self-esteem. Keeping the people we support safe at home and in the community.

Why become a support worker?

Being a support worker is incredibly rewarding. Unlike many jobs, you’ll go home at the end of the day with the knowledge that you’ve supported someone to accomplish something meaningful. It’s not always an easy job. The people we support, just like everyone else, have tough days as well as good ones. There will undoubtedly be days where you’ll need to be emotionally strong and resilient, but there will also be days where you’ll smile and laugh and make memories that will last a lifetime.

Why join our team?

Job satisfaction: Supporting people to learn skills or do something new can be incredibly rewarding, giving you a sense of achievement that is hard to beat.

No experience required: Qualities are more important to us than qualifications. If you’re caring and good at understanding and supporting others, you’ll fit in well.

Build a career: We will support you every step of the way, from a comprehensive induction to mentoring and support to ensure you have the skills to do well. Plus, for those who are keen to progress, structured career paths and the opportunity to gain formal qualifications.

Benefits: We also offer a host of benefits, from pensions and paid leave through to employee of the month, bonus opportunities and a company wellbeing scheme.

Established company: Precious is an award-winning provider of support services for autistic adults and people with learning disabilities, with more than 25 years of experience in the care industry. Find out more about Precious and how we work.