Prosocial skills necessary to work as a caregiver for older adults, an approach from the caregivers themselves

Abstract

This research is part of a project to analyze the competencies that people who work as caregivers of vulnerable people should have. This first part refers to the skills and attitudes called prosocial, that is, those voluntary behaviors of helping others that include sharing, giving support and protection. The objective is: Identify the prosocial attitudes of those who work in a day stay for the elderly. A qualitative approach was used  through the focus group technique in which the 15 workers of the Estancia that belongs to the MUNICIPAL DIF system in the City of Morelia, Michoacán participated. It is considered important to make this approach since in many cases the job profiles, as well as the requirements, are established from outside the institution, without considering the vision that the employees themselves have about the work they develop and the skills that are required. On the other hand, the position of caregiver is considered a non-specialized profile, it can be filled by that person who is hired to directly carry out care for the elderly in various areas, whether or not they are trained, obtaining a salary or benefit monetary for that work. They do not require specific studies, as observed in EDAM employees, since, although there are some professionals in specific areas: psychology, medicine and dentistry, the rest of the staff have secondary or high school studies, and are those who carry out the functions of care and attention of users. This is an important aspect, because the characteristics of the population to whom they take care, make necessary to have very specific prosocial attitudes and if these skills are not present, can cause dissatisfaction in the employee and poor customer service, or even the abuse of the elderly. Thus, in the focus group, the employees were asked what are the characteristics that a person must have to work in this place. In the answers, the employees identify several prosocial attitudes such as optimism, empathy, patience, among others. However, the same employees recognize that it is not easy to have these attitudes and that you do not have the necessary training to acquire them, so you have to resort to personal resources, therefore, it is very important to be good with yourself. From this initial questionnaire, an experiential workshop focused on the development of assertive communication, empathy and stress management was proposed to promote better job performance. Some preliminary conclusions of this research are the importance of developing prosocial skills in caregivers through specific training programs and constant monitoring to ensure that they will have sufficient personal resources to avoid isolation, physical and psychological abuse, social rejection and numerous health problems.