Kelly, a care worker, is on one of her home visits, helping Paul with things like changing his pyjamas. Small acts like this are essential, but practical support only goes so far. Kelly and the many others who do this work know that caring is an attitude as well as a set of tasks, that they are dealing with human beings and not just ‘service users’. But the schedules they work on are often so tight that they have little opportunity to show the compassion they feel.
Do we care? Society seems to not want to think about its older, more infirm citizens, people who may be alone and need help with the basics of living. We hire people to perform the necessary duties, but we don’t want to think about them either. Care work is low-pay, low-status – but high-pressure. And, as the coronavirus pandemic has reminded us, it’s invaluable.
Orpington, London, 2018