Guardian angels!

Ishara Jayawardane

Remember the stories we were told about having a personal guardian angel? Well the truth to be told, there are angels out there. And they are in the flesh and blood. They are called Care Givers. Care Givers are people trained to help the disabled, alzheimer,parkinson, dementia, palliative care and vulnerable adults in this society. They are specially trained under the UK syllabus. It contains a total of 9 units with Diploma in Health Care (4 Units) and Specialist Diploma in Health Care (5 Units). Daily News got the chance to meet with Inul Masalika Mohideen a.k.a Nali external verifier City and Guilds and lecturer in health care, who enlightened us on little known facts about this vocation.

The school focuses totally on Health Care Services affiliated by the "City & Guilds" which is the UK's leading provider of vocational qualifications. Upon completion of this course, the student is eligible to work as a Care Giver anywhere in the world with added perks. Nali who is also an external verifier of City & Guilds - Colombo Sri Lanka said:"The staff at City & Guilds are very friendly and helpful to all the students, no matter which field they are in".

"The school trains students to look after patients who are above the age of 65 (Geriatric) and offer good knowledge on how to look after them - developing their knowledge, rights, responsibilities, protection of patience in care, communicating with them,importance of completing records and understanding health & safety practice. Following the above key features will complete the Diploma in Health Care. That is IVQ Level 1,"said Nali.

Specialist Diploma in Health Care IVQ Level 2 entails supporting individuals to meet their personal daily living needs, supporting the physical and emotional comfort of individuals, supporting individuals with activities, promoting, maintaining and understanding mobility. When a patient is suffering from disabilities they are trained to be independent by valuing their individuality, identity, rights, choice, privacy, dignity, respect and partnership. They are also encouraged to be with us and to do activities with us of their choice.

"In care giving, practical knowledge is as important as theory knowledge. We have modern laboratories to train students under my instructions and then they are put to care homes to get hands on experience of how to care and handle elders. Both these courses can be completed within a period of six months. Since certain countries need over 760 hours of learning we also provide in-house training for the students to match the same,"said Nali

Apart from providing educational services, "The Western Health Care (Pvt) Ltd" also provides health services that include dispensaries with laboratory facilities and three care homes within Colombo limits. The students are trained in these care homes and their work is invigilated throughout.

"The profession of Care Giving has a big demand in Western countries. There are millions of care givers in the US alone and they are paid high salaries. I am proud to say that many of my students are working in England, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Dubai and many other countries across the globe. Apart from the course content I also, make sure that I speak in British English with my students so that they too will be able to converse in the same manner upon completion of the course. Almost all my students come to me with the dream of going abroad and doing a reputed job and by following this course their dreams could be reached easier. I would also like to make this an opportunity to tell the society that Care Giving is not just a profession or means to go abroad. Care Giving is useful in our day to day life in taking better care of ourselves, our family members and friends. My knowledge helped me to look after my mother who was bed ridden for two years without even a bed sore and the satisfaction I got from it cannot be expressed in words" said Nali