We love a good read here at everyLIFE. So much so that we have our own library which boasts a variety of books covering a wide range of topics. From care and technology to books on business culture and best practice, we keep our shelves well-stocked.
This approach keeps us on our toes, learning more with each day and everyONE at everyLIFE is encouraged to add to our growing collection of good reads. As well as a source of information and self-development, these books allow us to discover ways in which we can improve our business, our product and our understanding of the care industry.
A recent addition to our library has taken everyLIFE by storm – Dentures, Guns and Money: The Diary of a Home Care Worker. This book, by Rita Nemo with Julian Hutchings, has proved to be our number one ‘best seller’. Our six copies have been checked out forty-eight times in the last month alone – a new record for the everyLIFE library.
So, why has this book got us all so engrossed?”
The answer is simple. It recounts the sometimes heart-warming, and always entertaining, story of a home care worker in the style of a series of diary entries. Rita (not her real name) reveals the challenges she faces, and the joys she experiences in her every day role as a care worker; the long hours, low pay, rewarding experiences and unpleasant episodes she encounters through delivering personal care and how that affects all aspects of her life.”¯”¯Â
 It’s wonderful speaking to colleagues about their interpretation of the book and which topics made the biggest impression on them. Our engineers were horrified to learn that paper care notes could be left on a bus by accident, leading to a serious potential data breach, a code red at everyLIFE! Our customer experience team, some of who have delivered hands-on care before, confirm the authenticities of Rita’s experiences. This book has again re-opened our eyes to the realities faced by those working in care.
everyLIFE has always been different. Not only is PASSsystem the first digital care planning solution for domiciliary care, but we began our journey as care business owners with a vision to use technology to improve the quality of care delivered and the efficiency of a care business. Four years later, our vision is coming true, and whilst we are confident in our knowledge of the care industry, we have always been advocates of learning something new every day.
We spend a lot of time talking to care managers and business owners about the problems they face, specifying and engineering our product and then testing it and retesting it. What we really wanted to do was put ourselves in the shoes of our customers and those on the front line of care who use the PASSsystem every day. This thirst for knowledge and understanding is the driving force that led to the creation of our most exciting and testing in-house simulation yet; everyCARE For Life.
everyCARE For Life allows everyONE in our team to play the role of a care worker, care manager or care business owner as specified by a daily rota. We created fictional care givers with their own personalities, backgrounds, abilities, strengths and weaknesses, and also care receivers with commonly experienced needs and challenges. We have then simulated a variety of events and scenarios to reflect as many of the life experiences our customers face as possible. This helps everyONE of us experience our product from our customer’s perspective and to understand the types of tasks delivered and service users encountered on a typical day of care work.
We know what you’re thinking; simulating care and reading about one care worker’s life is not the same as delivering care day to day. We absolutely recognise and acknowledge this. However, what it has allowed us to do is take a step back and evaluate our product. When someone spots an improvement we can make, we know that the everyCARE simulation is working. It’s about continuous learning so that we can continue to develop the best product possible for our customers. We definitely don’t know it all (or even most of it), but it’s certainly bringing us closer to what our customers do every day.
Shortly after starting everyCARE For Life, Dentures, Guns and Money: The Diary of a Home Care Worker landed in our library. It was perfect timing and added to the buzz around our efforts. It really helped us to take our endeavours to a whole new level of empathy with care workers, as well as providing us with the ability to truly comprehend the challenges that care businesses face.
We are continually working to improve our product for you, our customer, to drive operational efficiencies, reduce risk, eliminate miscommunication or guarantee accuracy in the delivery of medication, ultimately to make your lives easier.
If you would like to contribute, please click here to contact Shara. Whether you are a care worker, business owner, local authority, commissioner, tech provider or a thought leader, we’d love to hear about your experiences in care. Tell us your story for a chance to feature in our follow-up blog. We look forward to hearing from you!
