Training Family Life Assistants for Elderly Care at Home – A Successful GEIQ Experiment in Aveyron

Precious testimonials on the reality of a job that is often poorly known. With sincerity and modesty, ten candidates who have validated the first stage of the course qualifying as “family life assistant” came to tell their daily life, at the invitation of the prefect of Aveyron Charles Giusti.

Find qualified personnel

It was also a question of establishing an assessment of this first experience resulting from the creation of a GEIQ antenna (Grouping of employers for integration and qualification) bringing together four associations: ADMR, Assad, Adar and Eop La and also to improve their operation. The challenge for these associations remains to find qualified personnel in order to respond to ever more demanding missions in the care of the elderly at home.

18 month training

These ten candidates have thus chosen to follow a course which is spread over 18 months, to 400 hours of work-study training. All employees have now validated their trial period. And the return of their trainer is, for the time being, satisfactory. Moreover, during this meeting, officials announced that a second session should open next September.

The challenge of home care, an issue in rural areas

Today, and in rural departments such as Aveyron in particular, the challenge of staying at home has yet to be tackled. So, in the words of these candidates, some of whom have several years of experience in the field while others discovered the profession a few months ago, the feeling of “pride” largely dominated. The pride of giving of one’s time, of sharing “privileged moments” with these elderly people who, very often, “do not see many people during the day”.

Remuneration, journeys, recognition

But, at the same time, they are often confronted with difficulties related to “remuneration”; “to important journeys”; “to the needs of recognition”. And as Prefect Charles Giusti has pointed out on numerous occasions: “It is important to break the clichés around these professions. They are essential for the future. And the subject of the aging of the population must raise questions about our report to support.” Be that as it may, the candidates for this training agree that these professions “have meaning and carry values”.

“beautiful stories”

This training also responds to a need when the gestures required daily by home helpers are more and more technical. “But despite the difficulties, we were able to create great stories”, confides an employee. “But we must be more heard about our needs and that our professions and our skills are taken into account.”