Gratitude runs through every level of social care
We all know how valuable gratitude is within the social care sector; when one of your residents or family members express their gratitude, it is always well received. It spurs people on to continue giving care with kindness and validates their endeavours.
Jonathan Freeman MBE, the CEO of the CareTech Foundation said:
A large part of what the CareTech Foundation does is championing big social care programmes to highlight the incredible contributions that care professionals make to our society, and the role that the sector plays within society.
He also said:
It's a tough old sector, care professionals' dedication to their role and to the individuals that they're looking after is incredible. That caring approach really doesn't just happen during the working hours. It's so much broader than that.
In the social care sector though, it's not just from the service user where gratitude plays its part.
Care professionals also need recognition from the organisations and people they work with as feeling appreciated builds staff morale and helps with staff retention.
We can make gratitude really proactive if we start to put gratitude at the heart of everything we do.
Anne Dabrow Woods, Chief Nurse at Wolters Kluwer Health said:
Many of you will be thinking our organisations need to show more gratitude for all we do, and I can't disagree. Now is the time for organisations to say thank you and demonstrate gratitude to their workforce. However, let's not forget that gratitude starts within each of us. We need to model the behaviors we want demonstrated to us.
I know everyone is working flat out but taking the time to say those two little words 'thank you' can really make a big difference.
Saying to a colleague 'Thank you for working with me today, thanks for all you do and having my back." Will not only give them a little lift to lighten their day it will also make them feel secure in their work knowing that they have been there for you and knowing that you'll be there for them too!
And it's not just our words that express gratitude, our actions can do that too. Getting a colleague a coffee or a tea when we see their energy levels flagging for example shows that we care and are thankful for all their continued efforts.
By putting gratitude at the beginning of everything we do we can galvanise the social care workforce and make everyone feel appreciated.
Let's implement practices of gratitude on every level in social care and make the sector an even more inviting place to be!
You can listen to the related TAP Radio Show here: https://soundcloud.com/thankandpraise/tap-social-care-radio-show-1022