09/12/2024 Care Careers Are STEM Careers
The extent to which a career in adult social care requires knowledge of STEM subjects is under-appreciated, says Melanie Weatherley MBE, Chair of the Lincolnshire Care Association.
STEM careers, which require skills and knowledge in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, are prized by many young people today. Schools, colleges and universities encourage students to consider STEM subjects to give them access to well paid careers in engineering, technology, computing and scientific research.
A career in social care, while personally rewarding, is not so well paid, and many young people dismiss caring as an option because STEM careers appear more exciting and offer the prospect of higher salaries.
I firmly believe, however, that social care IS a STEM career. It requires a level of scientific and mathematical rigour which many outsiders don’t fully appreciate, and as such a career in social care can impart a great many transferable STEM skills which will stand an employee in good stead in their future working life.
A scientific approach
As we all know, social care and the NHS are closely linked; I would go so far as to say that social care and health care are two sides of the same coin. So it’s natural for those two areas to cross over, and when they do, an appreciation of scientific principles on the part of carers is important.
Care staff are required to adopt a scientific approach in the workplace every day, and the better they understand the science, the better the outcome will be.
Nutrition and hydration
For example, nutrition and hydration are fundamental to high-quality care, and all care and support workers need to understand the impact of diet on the health and wellbeing of individuals. Good nutrition can help older people and vulnerable adults to thrive, improving their physical and mental health and wellbeing. It can also:
- tackle malnutrition, which can be prevalent in older people
- strengthen immunity to reduce the risk of infections
- prevent diet-related diseases
- aid recovery from illness, injury and surgery
- manage chronic health conditions
- enhance cognitive function
Scientific practice
Care workers need to possess a good level of theoretical knowledge to work effectively in care settings, and often they work in a scientific way when caring for older or vulnerable people.
This could be something relatively simple, such as working out which sounds, light levels or smells help to keep someone with advanced dementia happy; or it could be a more complex issue such as reversing diabetes.
Carers will raise a hypothesis, then test it, record what happens, adjust the hypothesis if necessary, and then repeat the process until the right outcome is achieved.
Importantly, carers share their findings with others, in the same way that scientists publish their research in peer-reviewed journals. As care staff work more closely with NHS colleagues to support people with complex needs to remain in their own homes, this scientific approach become increasingly important.
Technology
New technologies have transformed many aspects of adult social care, and of course carers need to be able to understand and exploit the technology just like an NHS nurse, doctor or technician. The list of digital technologies now commonplace in care settings is extensive: digital record keeping, enabling real-time sharing of accurate information; virtual consultations; artificial intelligence; digital support for falls detection and prevention; even robotic pets and smart food delivery systems.
There’s also an opportunity for engineers and innovators to improve the technology we already have. The hoists and other moving and handling equipment are old fashioned and not dignified for the people who have to use them, for example. Why are most shower chairs white? We need the engineers and designers of tomorrow to work with the sector to take this sort of functional equipment to the next level.
Mathematics
Maths is another subject that is required for almost every part of the job, whether it’s supporting people to get the best deal when shopping, managing hydration and nutrition, working with medication, or supporting the NHS by carrying out tasks such as measuring fluid levels or administering insulin.
Some tasks require everyone in the care sector to be adept at mathematics, while others are usually performed by people in more specialised roles such as rota management, particularly in home care, or analysis of health and well-being trends and the impact of various interventions.
There’s much more to a career in adult social care than people realise, and many aspects of the carer’s role require sound knowledge of the STEM subjects. Not only that, but care workers spend their days supporting real people and helping them to live their best lives. It’s a STEM career with the added bonus of touching hearts and raising smiles.