Fiona Campbell has been a dedicated live-in carer at Oxford Aunts since 1997! This International Women’s Day, we’re celebrating her incredible journey with an exclusive Q&A featuring our longest-serving team member.
1. What inspired you to become a live-in carer?
I was looking for something new to do. I’d always wanted to be a nurse, but as I suffer from brain freeze I knew l was unable to do exams and a friend asked if I had ever considered doing care work. I actually started doing live-in care work 30 years ago in New Zealand and it was there that I met an English carer who told me about live-in care in England and as I’d always wanted to come to England, it was a no brainer. I came to England in 1997.
2. Can you tell us about your journey over the past 15 years in this role?
In the past I have usually done long term placements. It can take me two or three weeks to get to know my client but you learn their ways and adapt and try to give / allow them the best life they can have at home. It is different for every client because no two clients are the same. So it is a continual journey of growing and learning with every new client you have and I have learnt something from them all.
3. Is there a particular moment or person that has had a lasting impact on you?
I think probably the very first person I ever looked after, this was in New Zealand. It was in looking after her that I found that I didn’t only like being a carer but I enjoyed it, learned from it and grew from it and continue to do so.
4. Have you ever had a funny or heartwarming story from your time as a carer that you’d like to share?
I was looking after twins, it was the middle of summer. One of the twins was in bed all the time and I had taken the other twin down to the bedroom so that they could have tea and a chat together. I asked what they might like for supper and the reply was for turkey, I said that we didn’t have any turkey, that it wasn’t Christmas time. It was then that the conversation started – they started talking about Christmas and Christmas carols! I asked if they would like to listen to some and they said yes. I put on my Alexa to play Christmas carols and for the next hour they sang and spent a happy time together. Part of me wanted to video it for the family but I didn’t, not because of the rules about videoing but because it felt like I would be intruding on something special.
A couple of weeks later, one of the twins sadly passed away. On speaking to the family about that day I found out that they loved Christmas and that it was at this time of year they would start planning for the season.
5. As a woman in this profession, what unique strengths do you feel you bring to the role?
Adaptability, flexibility and multitasking.
6. What advice would you give to other women considering a career and care?
To be respectful. To always treat whoever you’re looking after, as you would like to be looked after. And if you think you know it all stop caring as you will always be learning and need to adapt to any new situation. Even after all the years that I have been a carer I am still learning and adapting.
7. How do you take care of yourself while taking care of others?
In the past on my three hour break I might go out, have a sleep, do a bit of reading, play some games listen to music. On my eight hour break I would go away clear my system and recharge my batteries and come back feeling refreshed.
8. What are your hopes for the future of live-in care?
This is probably the hardest question to answer. I have no control over the future of live-in care.
I have always done my best for my clients, for me it is not just a job it is a privilege to enable someone to remain in their own home, to assist / help them to live the remainder of their lives as well as they possibly can and wish to do so.
Some people / clients who want to stay at home and be cared for don’t mind having regular changes of carers however there are some who would prefer to have something more settled in their life as they may not adjust well to change.
I have in the past, present and future firmly believed that long term continuity of care is more beneficial to the person receiving it and this is what attracted me to Oxford Aunts in 1997 as they were one of the very few agencies that offered this person centred care.
