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Gary Hedgecock, LV Care Group’s business development manager for complex needs, tells Emily Moore why he is so passionate about helping people with additional needs to gain independence

FOR most people, going to work is a fact of life. If you are lucky, you enjoy your job. If not, it is a means to an end, with the salary paying the bills.

But for some people, going to work represents a major milestone in their life, giving them a sense of independence which, for many years, they did not imagine would ever be possible.

“When I look back on my career in care, I can think of a number of clients who required 24-hour support and who never thought they would be part of a workforce,” said Gary Hedgecock. “But now, I bump into those people in town when they are on their lunch breaks, and their pride in having gained employment, and the independence that comes with that, is tremendous, and hugely inspirational.”

Indeed, it is experiences such as that which, as the business development manager for complex needs at LV Care Group explains, make working in the sector so fulfilling and rewarding.

Having moved to the Island 22 years ago, it was the fresh produce here which originally attracted the former chef to the Island.

But after four years in the kitchen, he started searching for a role which would both give him a better work/life balance and allow him to “make a difference”.

“It was a big adjustment but I knew from day one that I had made the right choice,” said Gary. “I just love working with adults who have additional or complex needs and helping them to find the pathway that enables them to achieve the best life they possibly can.”

Having started his new career at Les Amis, Gary undertook a range of qualifications, working his way up to registered manager status and has spent the past 12 years working in a range of senior roles, before moving to LV in March.

“I love the diversity of the LV Care Group’s offer,” he said. “We have care homes, home-care services, pharmacies and counselling facilities as well as support for adults with complex and additional needs. The group is also keen to expand its services, branching out into preventative care, as well as building the complex-needs arm of the business.”

Explaining that such services were designed for Islanders with conditions such as autism, epilepsy or learning difficulties, Gary said that his overriding goal was to ensure that such individuals were “part of the community”.

“I want to give these people as much opportunity as possible,” he said simply. “I am a big believer in the ‘Five Accomplishments’ framework developed by John and Connie O’Brien, which focuses on person-centred, community-based support for individuals with additional needs.”

Those accomplishments, he added, revolve around community presence, community participation, choice, respect and competence, all of which combine to support individuals to perform “daily living tasks”.

“That is the framework on which I have built my career,” Gary explained, “and those accomplishments are vitally important for helping Islanders to become as independent as possible. It is also a strong framework for carers working in this sector to follow, and another of my goals is to ensure that those team members are given all the tools they need to carry out their roles to the highest standards possible, so that we know we are doing the very best we can for the most vulnerable members of our society.”

While acknowledging that this arm of the care sector is experiencing the same recruitment challenges as other areas, Gary stressed that it offered hugely rewarding career opportunities.

“When you work with adults with complex or additional needs, a big part of the role is helping the client to overcome the barriers to learning which their disabilities present,” he said. “This could be enabling them to do something which sounds relatively simply, such as tying their own shoelaces, but little things like that can make a huge difference to their lives. We are also involved in helping them to develop and encouraging them to make the right choices.

“Sometimes it can take a long time to achieve a goal but the rewards that you get from seeing someone develop or attend a social event that they wouldn’t otherwise have gone to are tremendous. It is also very heartwarming to know that you are not just supporting the client but also their family, as the respite or domiciliary care you offer relieves the pressure on the client’s loved ones.”

This, added Gary, was particularly significant when the client was a young person.

“One issue we have in Jersey is that people with complex needs sometimes need to leave the Island to receive care and support, which is a challenge both for the individual and for their parents and other family members,” he said. “I would love to see that change, so that people are able to receive care while staying within their community, alongside the people they grew up with.”

To support this vision, Gary added that he would love to see more accommodation options for people with complex or additional needs and said that part of his role would include conversations with landlords and property owners to see how “better opportunities” could be offered to clients.

“I am also keen to talk to Digital Jersey about the opportunities to enhance care through technology,” he said. “While technology will never replace the role of carers, it can be used to give people greater independence in a home setting, and I think there is tremendous potential for different sectors to collaborate to build safe communities and purpose-built accommodation, which would give people as much independence as possible.”

Indeed, the theme of independence is one to which Gary returns regularly.

“Working in this sector is all about empowering clients to make choices and be part of the community,” he said, “and when you achieve that, the feeling is like no other.

“That’s why I am so excited to be in this role at LV, as the group is committed to expanding its services and building on the existing foundations to provide enhanced support to the community.

“While I know that there are other careers I could follow that would come with higher salaries, I know that they wouldn’t give me the same level of fulfillment that I get from working in care, and I would really encourage anyone else who is keen to make a difference to consider a career in this sector.”