Every year, the BC Care Awards celebrate care providers who go above and beyond delivering care to our seniors.
In this nominee profile, we feature Ashmin Chand from Saint Elizabeth for her work enriching the lives of seniors.
What do you wish people knew about working with seniors?
Day-to-day, working with seniors can be a big responsibility, but although it may be a lot to handle, there are many rewarding aspects that I wish people would recognize about working with the elderly. You can really make a difference in their lives – it’s a highly rewarding accomplishment to know that your empathetic and friendly presence could have turned a difficult day into a great one for them. They value your presence and are often show their gratitude or compliment you for good work and many elderly people look forward to interactions with their care staff. Most importantly, you learn from their experiences, knowledge and stories while you are with them. Their memories can give you wonderful insight into a different time and can help you to understand more about history and the human experience over time and encourage you to think about what matters most in life.
Everyday you help people through struggles you may never have known about if you hadn’t been caring.
What’s your favourite part about working in seniors’ care?
Creating long lasting relationships with clients and co-workers, travelling to multiple locations and meeting new people all the time and proving good care to my clients. Throughout the day I feel happy that they are satisfied with the care I am able to give them.
Why did you decide to work in seniors’ care?
Growing up being the youngest child, I felt that I had all of the responsibility to take care of my parents. Since then, I felt the urge and desire to help others. My past experiences have truly shaped who I am as an individual and has brought a new perspective to my work with clients. I want to help others to the best of my abilities because one day I might be in their position.
This occupation has shown me that there are many days where clients aren’t having the best day, but that I can do my best to make it better.
BC Care Award winners will be announced in early January. The awards ceremony will take place on February 19th, 2017 at the Fairmont Empress Victoria. Registration is now open for BCCPA members and invited guests.
