What is a Support Worker?

A support worker is a person who supports people with learning disabilities, Autism, and other assessed needs to live an independent and fulfilled life. Each person supported has their own aspirations, hobbies, and needs. By having a person-centred approach, support workers work to support the individual's goals.

What does a Support Worker do?

The responsibilities and duties of working in social care vary. To understand a person supported, a support sorker has to familiarise themselves with the person's supported care package. From this, the support team is able to encourage the person supported to make choices about how their day unfolds.

Here are some of a Support Worker’s main roles and responsibilities

• Going out – such as supported employment, going out for a meal, and going for walks.
• Safe handling of medication – training is provided. Involvement will differ depending on the person's supported needs.
• Support with household tasks – using proactive techniques like hand-on-hand support, picture cards, prompting a person supported to be more independent.
• Dreams and goals – empowering a person supported to learn new skills, improve self-confidence, and attend special events like holidays.
• Personal care – involvement will differ depending on the person's supported needs. For example, showering.

Is a Support Worker the same as a Carer or Health Care Assistant?

Although there are similarities between carers and health care assistants, such as compassion, personal care, and kindness, the role of a support worker is very different compared to those jobs. A support worker is an ever-present person in a person supported life. The support worker collaborates with the person supported to have agency within their life. In contrast, a carer or health care assistant will spend less time with a person, usually in a medical setting where the primary focus is to meet a person's physical needs. Support workers are presented with the opportunity to contribute to the progression of a person's supported life because they can build a better relationship with the person.

Below Alina details her story as a support worker and why she chose the role over a career as a carer.

What qualifications do I need to be a Support Worker?

No previous qualifications or experience is required to become a Support Worker. Organisations normally provide all the training needed for the role. Examples of training are the Mental Capacity Act, Autism Awareness, and Food Safety.

Even though there are no specific entry requirements to become a Support Worker, NVQs, BTECs and T-Levels in Health and Social Care can give you an advantage when applying for jobs. Similarly, if you have personal experience with a person with learning disabilities, a person in supported living, or people working in Health and Social Care, this will be of benefit as well.

Skills that will make you a great Support Worker

Empathy is a key skill to have when working as a support worker. You will be responsible for many aspects of a person's supported life, and because of this, you will have a great influence on their life. It is important to understand that people have good days and bad days. However, being empathetic can improve the person's day.

Effective Communication – is a valuable skill for people working in social care. It is important to understand that people communicate in different ways. People may use sign language, whether it is an established method like Makaton or a personalised one. People may use picture cards with their support workers to communicate. Body language is a common form of communication, and examples of this are pointing and gesturing. Sometimes people have their own personal noises when communicating. Finally, speech is a regularly used form of communication. By understanding this and making sure your responses are clear and concise, you will have successful interactions with those you encounter in the role.

Adaptability – naturally, your job as a support worker will constantly change. Perhaps a person supported makes progress towards their goals, and they become more independent in their routines. For example, they may get more involved in cooking. Then, as a support worker, you will have to adapt and encourage to help facilitate this progression.

Teamwork – providing the best care for a person supported involves collaborating with various people in and out of social care. Health care professionals, family members, other support workers, training providers, and management are all examples of people you can expect to work with as a support worker. By everyone understanding their role and responsibilities, all involved work together to facilitate person-centred care for the people supported.

Non-Judgemental - it is not uncommon for people to have preconceptions about the social care sector based on historical accounts they have heard. It is crucial to understand that in some situations, people with learning disabilities, autism or mental health difficulties can find themselves vulnerable. As a support worker, it is your job to empower a person supported to feel comfortable and confident. By getting to know the person supported on a personal level, you are likely to build a positive relationship with them, improving their chance of success.

Willingness to Learn – as a support worker, you have many opportunities to enhance your personal and professional development. You will have support from management and other staff members to achieve your goals, and it is down to you how you engage with potential opportunities. The day-to-day tasks you complete and support with will improve key skills such as communication, cooking, and decision-making. Typically support workers have 1-1 meetings with their support manager every 12 weeks. This is an opportunity to reflect on your work and set goals for improvement. Finally, there are plenty of opportunities to progress within the organisations. Naturally, this comes with more responsibilities, but also more opportunities to gain qualifications.

Resilience – you will invest a lot of yourself into a person's supported life, and it is your passion for making a difference that will contribute to their progression. At times, working in social care can be challenging. There will be bad days. There will be slow days. There will be days when you wish you could have done better or more. As a support worker, it is important to understand your impact on a person's supported life and their influence on yours. You need to be resilient, as you will be someone they trust and look to in times of need.

Organised - support workers need strong organisational skills to manage time and tasks effectively. In most cases, clear routines are very important to people supported, particularly those with autism. Routines are often a source of comfort, but they can also be used as a tool to implement steps towards independence. Therefore, a big part of your job is to understand how to provide proactive support during routines. The most important routines, for example, how a person likes to have breakfast, will be written in their personalised plans. 

Caring – ultimately, the healthcare and social care industries would not function without people who care about their jobs. Being caring allows you to build strong relationships with your colleagues and the people supported on a more personal level. You will be relied upon on many occasions, and by being a calming influence, you will contribute to a positive environment.

Respect – this is incredibly important for a support worker. You will support people with particularly vulnerable or private tasks, such as showering. Therefore, you will have to consider a person's supported dignity. This is an excellent opportunity to promote independence. For example, to encourage the person supported to wash their groin themselves. Simply, you have to understand the humanity behind the task. Think about how you or someone you love would want to be treated in this situation.

Do Support Workers have a duty of care?

Duty of Care is a moral and legal obligation to ensure the safety and well-being of others. Support Workers have a duty of care not only for the person supported but also for their colleagues. A Support Worker must consider the best interests of others they encounter and follow policies and procedures to meet this. This does not mean a Support Worker has the chief responsibility to decide things for others. Rather, it means to help facilitate an environment where independence can be encouraged. By providing proactive support Supports Workers can contribute to positive well-being and progression for all involved. An example of this is comforting a person supported after they have had a distressing experience, like visiting the Doctor.

Why become a Support Worker?

Being a Support Worker is a very rewarding job. It is an excellent job for people who enjoy a varied role. There are plenty of opportunities to develop skills that could benefit you in the future.

Benefits

Health and Wellbeing support – All staff are eligible for money off eye tests, glasses, prescriptions and more. 

Pension – A percentage from your wages can contribute to your own personal pension plan. You can opt out of this if you wish. 

Retail - All staff are eligible for money off selected retail brands by applying for discounts cards, like Bluelight Card and Vivup.

Find out more about the benefits offered by Affinity Trust. 

What types of training can I expect as a Support Worker?

E-Learning is training that is completed online. This could be set courses such as food safety or a webinar like enhanced communication. You will access your e-learning through the learning and development hub. You will be notified via your work email when you have training to complete.

In-Person is training that is attended outside of your home. This is commonly set in a classroom environment. An example of this is first aid. Both internal and external qualified trainers lead these sessions. However, there will be times when you will have training at the location you work at. These sessions are led by your support manager. An example of this is medication competency

Developmental is training that is not mandatory but can contribute greatly to your progression in the role. Developmental training usually happens outside of work and requires you to actively engage in your learning. An example of this is Makaton classes. Again, these sessions are led by both internal and external qualified trainers.

How much does a Support Worker earn?

Support Workers' pay varies depending on the location. Typically, support workers are paid around £12.00 per hour. 

Here are some factors that determine the pay of a support worker:

• Assessed needs – This refers to how much support a person needs. Ordinarily, the more support a person needs, the more the support worker will be paid.
• Department – Similar to the previous point, some departments, for example Children and Young People, are more specialised. Due to this, their support workers are often paid more.
• Location – There are more variables behind this factor, and it is solely based on individual locations. Due to the higher cost of living in a busy city such as London, support workers in those areas usually are paid more. Additionally, services in remote locations, therefore negatively affecting recruitment. Sometimes, as an incentive, support workers are paid more.

What hours will I work as a Support Worker?

There 3 types of contracts available: full-time, which is 37.5 hours per week. Part-time is anything under 37.5 hours per week, and bank is 0 hours, but you select the shifts you work.

With full-time and part-time contracts, you will usually work at one location. However, with bank contracts, you can work in multiple locations. You will be paid monthly if you are a full-time or part-time Support Worker. If you are a bank support worker, you will normally be paid weekly.

The basic shift patterns are: Early - 07:00-14:30, Late – 14:30-22:00, Long-Day – 07:00-22:00, and Night – 22:00-07:00.

There are often opportunities to pick up overtime. At Affinity Trust, we use our rota app, Sona, which makes it easy to access extra shifts and choose which ones best suit you. 

Overtime is classed as anything over 37.5 hours per week, and you will get paid an extra percentage for overtime worked. The most hours you can work in a week is 62.5. All overtime is paid the following month if you are a full-time or part-time support worker. You will be paid as usual if you are a bank support worker.

What are the different types of Support Work?

There are two types of support packages: 24-hour support and outreach support. A person with a 24-hour support package will always have at least one Support Worker with them. An example of this is a person living in supported living. 

With outreach support, hours will vary and usually depend on specific tasks, such as going to watch football at the weekend with a person supported, or supporting them with household tasks on set days. 

2:1 - meaning 2 support workers to 1 person supported.

1:1 - meaning 1 support worker to 1 person supported.

What opportunities are there for career progression?

Typically, there are plenty of opportunities for career progression, after starting off as a support worker. This is because support workers gain key sector experience and transferrable skills which are of benefit in a variety of adult social care roles. 

Ordinarily, social care providers will have assistant managers or team leaders, managers/support managers, regional managers, and then more executive roles. 

Internal appointments are common in social care where the support worker has shown to contribute to an organisation through their dedication and great work. At Affinity Trust, we have had support workers to move into roles in IT, Development and Recruitment.

With many opportunities to gain further qualifications, such as varying levels of Health and Social Care, support work can lead to roles in related work, such as social workers.