Care Journey
Beginning
Nicola Watson or Nikki as we know her, joined Ranger Home Care in 2018. Nikki was born with Spina Bifida and unable to care for herself.
Prior to live-in care, Nikki lived in a care home, she struggled with the lack of independence that her care home offered. Her care home was often short-staffed and Nikki couldn’t partake in the activities that she had always found joy in. She lacked her independence and freedom of choice. By denying her the choice of how she spent her days and who she spent them with, she would feel lonely and out of control. Forced into a care home routine at a young age, without her own front door and freedom. Due to a lack of staff, Nikki meant that she didn’t receive the consistent communication that would allow her to feel comfortable. She felt ‘anxious’ as she was unaware of the changes that were made to her care plan and felt restricted by routine and environment.
Working together
Nikki loved the idea of live-in care, having her own front door, and living life her way. However, she was worried about how much privacy she would receive with a live-in carer. Would they control her life? Could she afford it? Ranger Home Care worked with Nikki’s family and Adult Services to help secure her own flat. Working out a financial plan, implementing direct debits, and helping her to structure her life her way. Nikki has achieved financial independence.
Since living independently, she has gained a new lease of life as she gained freedom. With this, Nicola can now go to her favourite restaurants, like Pizza Express. Similarly, she can enjoy her preferred activities like cooking and bowling. On top of enjoying these activities, she can also go to the gym where she can work out her arms. By doing this, she feels a greater sense of independence as she is able to perform more and more daily tasks.
Ranger Home Care provides Nikki with a variety of carers as Nikki enjoys meeting new people learning about them and building a relationship but then understands the importance of having a break from each other as live-in care can be an intense relationship. Nikki likes to change her carer every few months and we are able to manage this process for her.
Nikki has a Ranger Home Care WhatsApp group allowing her to liaise with us anytime. Regularly sharing photos of her adored niece and nephew and giving Nikki the opportunity to be in control of her life by directly messaging us whenever she wishes.
Achieving her goals
Contrary to her time in a care home, Nikki appreciates the regular communication between herself and Ranger Home Care. This greatly reduces her anxiety as she is always aware of any upcoming changes. Nikki believes that having this back-and-forth conversation between herself and Ranger Home Care means that, in her words, ‘both myself and my family trust Ranger Home Care.’ Nikki chooses how she wishes to spend her days and gets to lock her own front door, she has her privacy by being honest with her carers about needing her alone time and uses WhatsApp to message when she needs their support. Nikki has built relationships with all the support team and regularly has fun outings with us.
Thank you
Ranger Home Care thank Nikki and her family for sharing her story and are so proud of sharing her care journey and her life journey. We enjoy each day.
