Affinity Homecare celebrates launch of Student Placement Programme

Affinity Homecare is celebrating the success of its first Student Placement Programme.

Working alongside Shrewsbury Colleges Group, Affinity Homecare had the opportunity to provide meaningful insight to the students into what it means to be a support worker and the numerous avenues a student could follow to progress a career in Social Care.

By completing their work placement with the company, the students had the opportunity to work in the office environment, learning first-hand how the administrative processes in care at home work.

They completed their eLearning courses which provides further understanding of key areas of the business such as safeguarding and medication. They worked with our experienced staff, visiting our clients, when they were having their daily care and support needs met.

The students also had an opportunity to speak with other Affinity employees about their experiences in Social Care; learning more in depth about the role of a Care Worker.

Melissa ‘Registered Manager’ said: "It has been a pleasure having students in the business and exposing them to all of the elements of how we operate our care agency. We were able to show them the admin tasks, compliance tasks, the importance of our role and what part we play in the community, looking after those who need us most.

"The students also had a breakfast pack to take out with them, so they had some snacks whilst they were out with our teams. It’s important to make the students feel as relaxed as possible to ensure they get as much out of the experience as possible.

"The key message for us was, they understood that working in social care is so much more than what the stigma of working as a care worker dictates. We need to attract more younger people to the industry, to avoid the gap in the market."

Affinity Homecare reported the feedback received from the students who undertook the Student Placement Programme, had been phenomenal and very much appreciated.

One of the students who took part in the placement programme said: "I gained a lot of knowledge through completing 14 E-learning courses provided by Affinity, I also gained knowledge through observing the carers provide quality care to those who need different kinds of support. I was shown how to be an efficient carer, I learnt about different environments within the care industry, I learnt about MAR sheets as well as how to handle alerts on the PASS system and how to provide care in such a way that maintains the service user’s dignity."

Another student said: "I genuinely don’t believe my experience could be improved, having the opportunity to learn about the office and behind the scenes before going out to calls was extremely beneficial to me. It has, I feel that my eyes have been opened regarding care, there’s a lot more that goes on behind the scenes that many people don’t get the chance to see and it’s a shame. There’s so much more to being a carer than just surface level actions, being a carer helps people to live a life with support, dignity and care."

The company looks forward to inviting more students to complete their work experience soon.