The Special Mothers Project’s Home Care Assistants Programme

The Special Mothers Project in the year 2018 is starting/piloting a programme called the Special Needs Home Care Assistants Programme.

Under this programme the project is recruiting to-be University graduates,pursuing a course in Community Based Rehabilitation and Disability Studies, Selected Senior High School leavers, Nursing graduates, persons in between jobs and those with a passion to care for Children with Special Needs.

Our focus will however be on children with cerebral palsy but families raising children with other disabilities can also contact us

These recruits will be trained  and equipped  with practical hands-0n  knowledge as well as other training materials to enable them work with families raising children with cerebral palsy and other disabilities

The aim is to enhance by way of respite for especially mothers raising children with cerebral palsy and other disabilities

BACKGROUND

Majority of children with cerebral palsy in Ghana are kept at home, most of the time mothers bare the brunt of taking care of these children. The search for a reliable, passionate and affable person to even take care of a child with cerebral palsy usually proves futile.

Most mothers tend to be frustrated and desperate due to the fact that they are unable to work. Usually the Mothers life tend to be tied around the child leaving mum stressed and frustrated.

We all know that no frustrated mother will produce a healthy and happy child.

Many have depended on the traditional “house help system” but it has failed them continuously with many having bitter experiences to share

The Special Mothers Project has thus decide to pilot a system where graduates are recruited with a specific terms of reference to work with families or with homes to ease the burden on especially the mother.

THE PROGRAMME

Under the programme persons passionate about supporting children with disabilities will be trained based on practical hands-on knowledge and the experiences of parents to support families with child care and other activities as well as selected house chores that ultimately aims at helping the families to achieve inclusion.

This programme will also serve as a mini respite where the mother does not have to be doing the work all alone, knowing that sometimes having someone around alone is a great source of relief.

To ensure safety and security of families the Special Mothers Project will facilitate medical tests of the selected applicants as well as security checks.

We will do an initial assessment of the client home and agree on specific duties of the Care giver within the normal working hours.

Among the Terms of Reference for the people we engage are the following:

Family Values – When you go to a home ask about any family values and respect it.

You will assist the child with cerebral palsy or other disabilities with eating, help with toilet training and have basic physiotherapy with the child (With the guidance of the family since every child with cerebral palsy is unique) and engage the child with daily living skills

You will help with other siblings if any with the aim of helping integrate the child with cerebral palsy  and or other disability not just with the family but with the society at large

You will help train the child in basic daily living skills

You will also engage the child and siblings (If any) in play therapy – children learn a lot through play

Please assist (If possible) with simple house chores like helping with the utensils, tidying home etc

You will be giving periodic professional training to enhance your skills and services

The Special Mothers Project will put in place a contract for you and your prospective employer and will place you with a family as and when we get the demand.

The Caregiver Institute

To make the home based care programme a success, the Special Mothers Project is starting the Caregiver Institute in October

The Caregiver Institute is a specialized institution with the mandate to train care givers on how to manage and care for children with special needs, especially cerebral palsy.

The objective of the training is to equip dedicated persons with the requisite skills on general caregiving with a focus on caring for a child with cerebral palsy or other disability.

At the end of the training, participants will learn topics like, What is caregiving, who qualifies to do caregiving, respecting family values and paying attention to details.

What is cerebral palsy? When can you say a child has special needs. What is expected of you during caregiving, feeding, toilet training, communication.

Participants will also have an opportunity to do practical sessions with children with Cerebral Palsy under the guidance of a professional either at a home setting or within a school setting.

Interested persons may apply by sending their curriculum vitae (CV) to blessingsabound81@outlook.com.