Caring For Young Adults: What To Expect From Your Role

Working with young adults within a care setting requires a huge range of abilities, but if you want to make a success of caring for young adult, there is one skill that outweighs all others - the ability to empathise.

Behaviour and the Teenage Brain

What most people fail to realise about young brains is that they are physiologically different from those of older people. If you’ve got teenaged kids then you’ve probably been through the gamut of constant sleeping, mood swings and erratic decision making, but the truth of the matter is a lot of that behaviour is down to the fact that the person exhibiting it is young.

Between the ages of 0 to 5 the human brain undergoes its first major stage of development. It’s here that most children will need to learn the basic skills necessary to proceed through life, such as communication. Then, when the brain reaches puberty it begins to undergo its second major set of changes as it develops into a mature adult brain.

During this time the brain is swimming with hormones whilst the body is utilising masses of energy to finish growing. Which goes some way to explaining why young people always seem tired, often act erratically and seem to go from joyous to desperate in the space of a few minutes.

In the right circumstances, being a teenager or young person is ideal for embarking on a life of crime and if someone is prone to violence, they’re most likely to start displaying this behaviour during their teenage years.

Young Adults and You

If you’re planning on working with young adults in a care setting then the chances are you already have an interest in or proclivity towards this sort of position. Although it’s possible to make a comfortable living in care, it’s unlikely you’ll become a millionaire and working with young adults is one of the most challenging care roles you can take on, so it’s a good idea to go into it for the right reasons – i.e. to make a difference to people’s lives rather than boost your bank balance beyond all recognition.

So Why Empathy?

As stated earlier, working with young adults within a care setting requires a huge range of abilities. You’ll need to be able to present a professional image without being too formal. You’ll have to become an ace at paperwork. You’ll need to be aware of all the latest legislation and safety laws. You’ll need to be able to work as part of a team. You’ll have to be willing to undertake regular training and constantly build on your skills. So out of all these essential qualities, why is empathy the most important?

Whether you’re a parent, teacher, carer or anyone working with young adults, we often try to get them to see things from our point of view, but in many cases they may be physically unable to do that, especially if they’ve grown up without learning the life skills necessary to see things through the eyes of others.

However, as a carer it’s absolutely essential that you can view the world through the eyes of the people you care for and empathise with their situation. Doing so is by far the most effective way to understand the behaviour of young adults and react to it in a way that engenders a sense of trust and mutual respect, rather than alienating the people in your care.

AUTHOR BYLINE

Glen Phillips really enjoys sharing his nursing and medical expertise online. When he's not on the bloggosphere, Glen can be found at St Georges Care Agency - Essex's experts when it comes to residential and domiciliary care.