For Your Own Good 6
To shed light on the need for emotional care and human connection, especially for vulnerable citizens.
Before the pandemic, I volunteered at the long-term care home that I subsequently worked at as a housekeeper during the first lockdown. I watched first hand the distress and isolation of residence who had previously had family, friends, and volunteers visit them to no visits at all. I watched the impact this had on care staff who had relied on visitors to perform care suddenly lose those extra hands and have to work so much harder to try to meet the emotional and physical needs of residents. The anxiety and stress created by the lockdown highlighted how important emotional labor of non-workers is to the workings of long-term care facilities and I needed to convey this through my work.
