Caasha Cali, Health Care Aide in Calgary, AB, shares about her heart for helping people live their best lives at home despite hard circumstances. By supporting clients with activities that mean a lot to them, she loves seeing the change in their confidence and happiness as they regain independence.
Why did you become a Health Care Aide?
I decided to become a Health Care Aide because I love helping people. For some individuals, it means a lot for them to be able to live in their own homes and I want to help provide care that enables them to live with that independence and comfort. My clients appreciate me coming in to help because of that. It’s a big deal for them that they can still do the activities they love in the comfort of their own homes, and I’m glad that I can support them with that through my role.
What motivates and drives your work?
Getting to see someone smile is rewarding for me. When I visit my clients in their homes, they’re waiting for me to help them with their activities, whether that’s to get out of bed or to eat. When I walk in the door and start a conversation with them, I start to see a smile appear on their faces. Being able to do small things for my clients makes a meaningful difference in their day and reminds them that they’re not alone. They know that they have someone by their side to help them. Even if they have family to assist in caring for them, I try to help lighten the load by providing that extra support to my clients and their families.
Tell us about a time when you and your team helped to improve the health of a client.
On a freezing cold winter day, I had gone to visit a senior client to give him his medication but no one was home when I opened the door. I became concerned and called CBI Health to alert them that my client wasn’t home. As I was leaving the building, I noticed there was an EMS team outside. I was curious so I went up to the EMS team and saw that my client was sitting there right next to them. This client had a condition that affected his memory so he didn’t know where he was. He was standing there and was very anxious. The EMS team was telling my client to calm down and sit, but he would not listen. I told the EMS team that I was a Health Care Aide and asked if I could help, which they were happy about since they didn’t know what to do. This situation was beyond the typical scope of things they encountered in their role.
I was able to gently calm my client down, let him know where he was, and reassure him that everything was okay. I stayed after my scheduled shift to bring him back to his home and assisted him in taking a shower so he could get cleaned up. The EMS team appreciated working together with me because they didn’t know how to handle the situation otherwise. I’m glad that in a difficult situation like this, I was able to step in and provide help at an important time not only to the EMS team, but ultimately to be there for my client when he needed it the most.
Tell us what you love about your healthcare team at CBI Health.
A big reason that I love my job is the team of healthcare professionals I get to work with. Every time we see each other, we go over the ways in which we can improve the care we provide for clients in their homes. We all come together, along with our supervisors, to discuss any questions we have and work on solving them together as one team.
How do you ensure you deliver the best care to our clients?
I like to be present in the moment when I’m with my clients. This can include attentively listening to not only the needs they express, but even small bits of conversation they make with me. Every interaction with my clients – big or small – matters to me.
I also try to be compassionate with my clients and to understand where they’re coming from. If I show up one day and my client is not emotionally doing well, I look beyond their bad mood. Instead of seeing them as a difficult person, I see them as a good person just having a bad day. This kind of perspective helps me to continue providing care to clients with positivity and kindness.
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