Part time Care Assistant / Au Pair / Girl Friday for elderly Irish lady – Neasden based – ideally live in

My name is Anne and I am seeking a compassionate and reliable individual for my elderly mum (Johanna/Josie), aged 84 years who lives on her own.

Johanna is Irish born from Waterford, Ireland and lives in Neasden, London based (NW10). Mum has been living on her own for many years, loves her small 2-bedroom flat, is happy and content and has always been very independent but has been suffering progressive memory loss over the past several years.

Mum is housebound and uses a walking frame and aids to get around. Today mum suffers dementia and incontinence but still manages to make herself tea and toast, washes up plates and cups, checks the house and has a regular routine. Mum sleeps a lot as is the normal progress with Dementia and is alert and her most active from late afternoon to early evening time before she goes to bed. Mum has a great appetite and we often have to hide food as she often forgets she has already eaten. Mum drinks tea all the time when she is awake - her favourite tipple. Mum is also able to make toast with butter and jam herself but as she is becoming more and more immobile, it would be great for her to have some extra assistance - she needs more to support and for someone to help monitor and keep an eye on things. Mum to wash up and check around the house that power switches and the boiler is switched off at night and that the front door locked and secure.

Mum remembers her mother, brothers and sisters very well but no longer recalls her children or grandchildren. Mum loves books and cards and reading when she is assisted but this is only ever in very light bouts. Mum lives on her own and some companionship for her would be nice as well as the extra security of having someone with her.

Currently 3 x care workers attend to mum daily / 7 times per week – in the morning (medication, breakfast and change of pull up nappy and bedding checks – mum often goes back to sleep), afternoon (main care period – lunch, medication, personal care, nappy and bedding checks – mum is her most alert) and during the evening time (medication, nappy and light supper/tea provided). Mum is then usually off to bed again and sleeps through the night quite comfortably.

The care workers currently provide additional light cleaning and laundry duties but are limited with time in their daily care of mum.

This role provides lots of free time and much flexibility but is ideally suited for for someone to live in with mum, perform light housework of a small ground floor flat, provide supervision/observation of the daily attending care team and of mum, help with post, local chemist / shop visits now and again (to run rare errands), provide some companionship support and, assistance with incontinence issues between care team visits. Stay with mum each night, hence the live in requirement.

As mentioned above, the role is not full-time and there is a lot of free time. This more a role of oversight, observation, participation and a little help. There is much flexibility. It's more about supporting mum's ongoing feeling of independence in her own home for as long as and as much as possible so that she can continue to be where she feels happy and secure . Mum is able to take herself to the toilet quite often independently but due to dementia there is an odd occassion where she might forget to put a fresh nappy on. So it is about checking her now and then to ensure. This will also require dealing with the odd incontinence accident between care worker visits.

Responsibilities:

• Very light housework, maintaining a tidy home environment. This could include helping to clean the insides of cupboards, cleaning windows and doors, washing and drying clothes at odd times. Mum's small ground floor flat is very easy to manage and the care workers also provide some assistance e.g. changing bedding, washing up, sweeping, mopping, shopping and general tidiness.

• Supervising and coordinating with the care team during their daily visits / hours and visa versa - a partnership approach to provide the maximum care and well being for mum. It is not the case that you need to be there for every carer visit.

• Assisting mum with incontinence care between care team visits – this is a very important and critical part of the role that you must be able to undertake and always willing to check and do to ensure mum is always dry, including bedding, at all times - so that she is comfortable.


Other duties:

• Providing companionship and support
• The odd, possible wheelchair based summer-time outing, sitting in the garden
• Reading and looking at books and pictures
• Assisting with cups of tea and e.g. toast and jam
• Possible assistance with home maintenance services e.g. letting the plumber in, providing access to the gardener, helping with post

Requirements:

I am looking for someone who has/is

• Responsible and trustworthy
• Compassionate and patient in demeanour
• Able to be a friend and build a personalised one-to-one relationship
• Experience with elderly care or a willingness to learn
• Able to communicate effectively via regular Teams calls / mobile phone / messenger for check-ins (I am based remotely)
• Able to start sometime between June - July 2025, possibly earlier and stay for approx 6 months but ideally 1 year+ or longer

This role may be suitable for:

• A couple (in exchange for reduced / free rent)
• Au pairs interested in elderly care (a salary will be paid)
• Trainee nurses, therapists or students seeking practical experience
• Job-share considered so that you also have flexibility
• May also suit someone who is mature or retired

If you are interested, please contact me and tell me a little about yourself. I can provide more information by return. I am also open to discussing salary for the right person.