Diversity sought in care sector
Luke van Velzen loves his job. He is not in the NBA but he still plays basketball for a living.
The Wellingtonian is a support worker and a relatively rare one.
In a sector dominated by older women, he is a young man.
The care industry is calling for more diversity in its workforce, to help supported people see themselves in their supporters.
It would also shore up the industry, after the Covid-19 pandemic exposed some vulnerabilities. While more than 80 per cent of New Zealanders value people working in care and support roles, only 47 per cent would recommend it as a career path to a family member, according to research from UMR.
Van Velzen started at his job with Community Connections because his neighbour was one of the company executives and knew van Velzen was studying psychology. His first job was working with one person who needed round-the-clock support from two people. ‘‘It allowed me to use my psychology studies and put it into practice.’’
Now, with his honours degree completed, he works fulltime, doing tasks from ensuring people have eaten and washed themselves, to catching up for coffees, to playing FIFA and basketball.
‘‘In a lot of ways my interests are pretty traditional for a male of my age, so that means I can quite easily form a support worker bond and gain some trust with people. I mainly support males who just want to hang out and take it easy, and I understand that because it is what I want to do as well,’’ van Velzen said.
‘‘I think, across the country, the guys like I support might not have access to that, and are being supported by older women who might not be best able to understand them.’’
Markus McCraith, who also works for Community Connections in Wellington, said the work was incredibly rewarding.
‘‘It is a very humanising kind of work. He thought the role was misunderstood, with people thinking it was all about helping people go to the toilet or shower.
‘‘That may be an aspect if you are supporting someone with quite severe physical impairments but it is so much more diverse than that. Now that I have done the work, I would definitely recommend it to other people.
‘‘If you are someone who enjoys work that is interpersonal, and you are a caring person, it makes sense to be a carer. A lot of people can do it, it just requires empathy and reciprocity.’’
The chief executive of the Home and Community Health Association, Graeme Titcombe, said the industry had always struggled for staff but Covid-19 revealed how vulnerable it was.
‘‘There were a number of our workers who were over 70 and stood down during Covid, and they have decided it is time to retire.
‘‘So that has definitely made the problem worse for us. I think caring is one of those invisible occupations. It is not one that is normally considered but a large number of our workers would say it is very rewarding.’’
Behind the campaign is Industry Training Organisation Careerforce.
Chief executive Jane Wenman said it wanted to build a workforce that reflected the diversity of those being supported. ‘‘People of all ages, genders, cultural identities and lived experiences.’’