The health sector set for a jobs surge

Sue Pocock talks us through the fast emerging career of designing programmes to keep people mentally and physically active... The training qualification only takes 12 months, part time.

SSue Pocock is brimming with enthusiasm talking about the breakthrough course she is teaching next term and believes it is transforming lives one by one.

“Many centres supporting people living with dementia will now be scrambling for people with this qualification, but you could also score a position working as a council sport and recreation officer, or with those living with mental health conditions.”

Cert IV in Leisure and Health (CHC43415) will be available in our local area at award winning Northern Beaches & Mosman College (NBMC). Sue is also part of the lifestyle enrichment team at Anglicare, and is a facilitator at Dementia Australia.

“The 2019 royal commission in aged care, along with the just released 2019 Aged Care Quality Standards, means providers need qualified people to design stimulating activities for their consumers. There is an estimated 447,115 Australians currently living with dementia and that number is growing rapidly.

The new standards focus on person centred care, and meaningful engagement. In this job you must find out the life story of the resident first. The spiritual, social and emotional needs are all part of the care plan.”

Important questions may be: what are their likes and dislikes? What was their job? Sue tells of one lady who was interested in fish and was thrilled with her aquarium and fish centred activities, while another man had a big smile doing all his golf-centred activities.

“Music has been proven to be mentally stimulating and so we design music playlists of their favourite songs and you see the person transform before your eyes. No two people living with dementia are the same.”

In years past, when dementia wasn’t understood, you’d hear terrible stories about people being heavily medicated, not stimulated, and just put in front of the TV all day. They would decline rapidly because they had no quality of life. That, of course, isn’t allowed now with the new standards in place. This course has no prerequisites and the career would suit anyone who is a people person.

“Sometimes you are part psychologist because of how deep you dive down into their brain,” laughs Sue.

“You see the person transform before your eyes. No two people living with dementia are the same.”

“There are people of all ages who love this role. People in their 20’s right through to people looking for a career change or re-entering the workforce later in life.”

No doubt a very rewarding experience, making a difference to someone’s daily life. Sue says she genuinely cannot wait to see everyone in class. •

RTO ID 90113. This course may be subsidised by the NSW government - www.nbmc.nsw. edu.au/course/CHC43415_Leisure_Health