Soft Skills That Enhance Aged Care

To thrive in a rewarding career in aged care and provide high standards of care, requires both technical and practical knowledge, combined with a set of valuable personal attributes.

These personal attributes are also known as soft skills, which include qualities such as; patience, responsibility, communication and empathy. While not explicitly taught, soft skills can be developed over time through training and can offer many benefits for your aged care career and employer. People who possess developed soft skills are better equipped to solve problems in the workplace, communicate effectively and work well with others.

Soft skills training for effective care

Many roles and sectors hold soft skills in high regard — and it’s not surprising. These often-innate human qualities give aged care employees the ability to reach their full potential and provide a high standard of care to clients.

There are several soft skills that are particularly valuable for working in the aged care sector and some of these skills include:

Adaptability

With a role in the aged care sector, you might find yourself working within several different situations and caring for many people during each shift. Being able to adapt and be flexible with changing situations and scenarios in the workplace, can help enhance the care you provide at each juncture.

Emotional intelligence

Emotional intelligence is the ability to understand, manage and use your own emotions to communicate effectively, overcome challenges and empathise with others. It is a broad term covering self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and relationship management. These areas all contribute greatly to employability as well as the ability to succeed in (and out) of the workplace. In aged care this can mean ensuring everyone is safe and being offered the highest standard of care.

Patience

Elderly individuals can feel frustrated when they are unable to complete a task without help or annoyed with a situation. Some are frustrated that they even require assistance at all. Patience can help you to keep a situation calm and strengthen the bond you have with those individuals within your care.

Communication

Working with various types of people, including clients, families or other aged care professionals requires strong communication skills to interact confidently and effectively with each person you encounter. This soft skill doesn’t just require effective speaking and writing but also a comprehension of others through effective reading and listening.

Human-centred education

At Selmar we take a human-centred approach to educating our aged care learners. Over time, soft skills have become increasingly valued in the workplace, and human-centred education techniques are now recognised alongside the more traditional, practical approach to education.

As the name suggests, this approach focuses on the human element of education — that is, our learners’ wellbeing, curiosity and care in relation to their studies. It enables people to develop their vital soft skills while gaining technical skills and formal qualifications simultaneously.

Supporting students to strengthen their soft skills

Not only have we incorporated a human-centred approach to training our learners, but our aged care courses also encourage a person-centred approach to care. We are committed to helping our learners to strengthen their soft skills throughout their learning journey as well as approaching aged care with empathy.

Developing crucial soft skills within our courses helps to create caring, compassionate and highly effective professionals who are equipped to provide the highest quality care to ageing individuals.

A compassionate and caring world is better for everyone, and a renewed focus on soft skills such as communication, kindness, compassion and patience can help pave the way to a better care.

Incorporating and developing your own unique personal qualities and perspectives into your learning can bring out the best in each individual and help you get the most out of your training and career in aged care.

To discuss aged care career pathways, get in touch with us today on (03) 9116 9096.