Carer sets up at-home service for elderly people

A CARER who says she struggled to find adequate support for her mother-in-law has set up a service to provide at-home care for elderly people.

Diane Chandler aims to create 50 jobs after taking on the franchise for Home Instead Senior Care, covering an area from Darlington down into Northallerton.

Two months into the business, she has five staff and 15 in training, and is confident of growing the head count of carers.

“We’ve had a lot of response initially – we should be able to create 50 jobs easily,” she said.

“We do things a bit differently. We do a minimum of one hour and we are very much about matching clients with care givers. It’s enough time for someone to cook a meal and build up a relationship.”

A former early years worker with Middlesbrough Council, working with families and young children, Chandler’s attention turned to caring for elderly people after having problems finding quality care for her mother-in-law, who lives in the south of England.

“I knew there had to be a better way to provide care for older people and I made the decision to do something about it – I wanted to make a difference in my local community,” she said.

“There was absolutely nothing wrong with the carers – it was the time pressures. I thought, we can do better than this, so I looked at the franchise.”

She believes the growing elderly population, often with no close family nearby, will lead to a strong growth in jobs in the sector.

Chandler said: “I am keen to talk to kind, compassionate and like-minded individuals who may be interested in joining the company.

“We aim to provide a dedicated, personal service, and we are unique in that we don’t do short, task-based appointments and we match clients and care givers, meaning that they can build lasting, close friendships.”

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