A Day in the Life of a Salvos Home Care Operations Manager
"There is connection to all the staff that makes it really rewarding, so I can see the whole job, not just my role," says Salvos Home Care Operations Manager – Victoria and Tasmania, Michael Faneco, when asked what he most enjoys about his role. In Victoria and Tasmania we look after almost 600 Home Care Package (HCP) clients. “I can see what the Home Care Worker, Nurses, Administration Staff, Rostering staff and Care Coorindationrs do in their role day-to-day and the positive benefits it brings to clients."
As Operations Manager, Michael notes that there is no standard picture of a ‘day in the life’, but rather that each day brings variety. “Various days, I might be catching up with staff,” he explains. “There are three team leaders who report to me, who deal more directly with the Care Coordinators and Home Care Workers.”
The client support from a Home Care Worker can range from a variety of tasks, with the most common services being personal care and domestic assistance, such as helping with tasks around the home, in addition to social support, such as assisting people to go shopping or access community services to do things they enjoy. Other popular services to support clients at home include occupational therapy, physiotherapy, podiatry and clinical care such as nursing, assisting with wound care and helping people with medications.
For those considering roles within the Salvos Home Care space, Michael underlines the importance of being able to communicate with a range of unique older persons. “That sense of talking to people; that borders on customer service, thinking about how you’re here to do a job and what great customer service looks like,” he states. “But it might be as simple as listening to people; enjoying talking to the diverse range of older people that we might see.”
Beyond strong communication skills, Michael also emphasises the importance of being an unwavering presence in the lives of clients. “An under-discussed skill that I think everyone needs is reliability. That’s a really important aspect in working with older people that I feel staff need to be able to be reliable in their roles and follow through for the client. For me that has been the most important attribute and skill that I look for in staff.”
Another area of focus for Michael as Salvos Home Care Operations Manager also involves continuing to develop and improve Salvos Home Care. “There are forums that we do across home care; that we do Australia-wide to improve our clinical work, our compliance and continuous improvement. So, we are working together to innovate and have consistent processes across the whole of Salvos Home Care.”
Salvos Home Care provides in-home and community support to assist older Australians to live the life they want, whilst receiving the care they need. The Salvos Home Care difference lies in their personalised and flexible care plans, with a dedicated Salvos Home Care Coordinator, and an affordable price point with no set-up fee and low admin fee to ensure funds can be spent on the help clients need most. Beyond this, Salvos Home Care clients can expect streamlined access to other Salvation Army Aged Care services if their needs change over time.
