Care homes boost care workers' morale with counselling, free holidays and pay rises

Free trips to Cornwall, pay rises and counselling are among morale-boosting incentives being adopted by care homes to thank care workers during the coronavirus pandemic, a poll by carehome.co.uk reveals.

A total of 2,867 care home owners, managers and staff have shared their morale-boosting measures, in response to a survey by carehome.co.uk.

Pay rises, bonuses, free hot meals, food parcels of essential items, gift vouchers, taxis and free drinks are among the staff incentives.

Counselling is also being offered in care homes, as well as breathing therapy, yoga and wellness packages.

The poll reveals a care home has doubled their workers' salary in March and is paying for a holiday in Cornwall for them all.

'Daily huddles' in care homes

Over one third of poll respondents (36 per cent) have said their care home is working on boosting the morale of staff, many of whom have moved into care homes to keep residents safe during lockdown.

Over three quarters of care home staff polled said staff morale was either excellent, good or satisfactory in their care home.

With coronavirus outbreaks happening in care homes across the UK, care workers are facing a demanding time emotionally and physically, but surprisingly the majority of those who responded to the survey (51 per cent) have rated staff morale in their home as either good (35 per cent) or excellent (16 per cent).

This was despite the majority (83 per cent) of respondents admitting they were worried about transmitting COVID-19 to their family when they go home after working in a care home.

Almost a quarter (24 per cent) summed up their care home’s staff morale as ‘satisfactory’. Some 16 per cent called it ‘poor’ and six per cent ‘very poor’.

Daily motivational ‘huddles’ are giving teams a chance to offload worries, share experiences and a joke with fellow staff. Huddles include regular thank you messages from care bosses and positive messages of support from residents’ families being read out to all staff.

A care worker responding to the poll said the staff get “regular text messages from the owner telling us how grateful and proud and thankful [they are] to have us.”

According to the poll, managers are giving staff extra breaks, some time off each week, flexibility with staff shifts and roles and are not letting staff work too many hours.

Some care workers have said staff are made to feel safe to work in the care home by management who keep them up to date, have everyone’s temperatures taken regularly and practise good infection control.

Managers are also giving workers time to contact their families while at work. Those without access to internet at home are given the chance to make video calls to their families during working hours.

Care home managers working as carers, cooks and cleaners

Care home managers have been working as carers, cooks, cleaners and drivers to increase staff numbers in their care homes.

Many managers have been getting in uniform to work shifts with care workers. A care home manager said: “As a manager I work with them, they do not work for me”.

A manager and his daughter have been doing free car washes for staff, according to the survey.

Some care homes are allowing workers to buy food from the care home’s suppliers to minimise the need for them to go shopping.

Staff training in place 'to deal with stress of COVID'

More unusual morale-boosting measures have included singing, performing and dancing during shifts. A care home manager has been playing his ukele around the home to get staff and residents singing.

Some staff have been learning to dance together and posting videos of their efforts on TikTok. Care workers at Dawson Lodge care home in Southampton come up with a dance routine each week to boost their morale.

Mitchelle Perry, manager of Anchor’s Dawson Lodge, said: "We post an uplifting video once a week on Facebook to lift everyone’s spirits and show families what fun activities we organise for our residents."

A care worker has said a large board filled with positive messages has been put up in their care home. "We have training in place for staff to deal with the stress of COVID. We all go outside on Thursdays to listen to the clapping outside the home.

"We have a large board up asking staff what they want to do when this is all over.

"It makes them realise it will be over one day."