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Kathy Forrest (pictured) is Managing Director of a Sydney-based organisation called Dutiful Daughters, which provides aged-care to local communities delivering companionship, meal preparation, outings, personal care and 24 hour support for families.
After running a chain of publications and working in publishing for nearly ten years, Kathy became a practice manager at a radiology practice where she gained an interest in the health industry and completed a Diploma in Practice Management for medical business. Kathy now runs a business with heart and spends 24 hours a day thinking about the needs of other people.
Kathy made the move to Dutiful Daughters in 2007 and over the past two years has grown with the business. She says one of the most satisfying aspects of her work is the knowledge that she is helping so many people keep a quality of life and enabling them to stay in their homes longer.
“At three thirty this morning I was suddenly thinking there’s someone I need to make sure I find the right carer for – it’s all consuming but it is very rewarding at the end of the day,” Kathy Forrest told Australian Women Online.
“We answer the phone 24 hours a day. People call up in a crisis who have no idea who to call. Often you don’t get any reward or a thank you for it, but it’s just part of life, in my opinion, to help as much as you can and try and steer people in the right direction.”
Australia’s population is aging and Dutiful Daughters is providing a vital service as changes in the Australian family structure make it more difficult to care for the elderly. Kathy says families are working longer hours to support their needs and often don’t have the time to care for their older family members. This makes people feel guilty about not being able to help their parents or be as flexible to assist them as they would like.
“Families want their parents to have a good quality of life and be independent. A well-trained carer can help them maintain some independence and confidence. Confidence is a major factor in assisting the elderly as unless they feel safe when they go out they can become housebound, often leading to depression in the elderly,” said Kathy.
Dutiful Daughters also provides care for people with disabilities. “We focus our care on people of all ages. We have children right through to elderly people and can also be of assistance when people are coming home from hospital.”
Dutiful Daughters was founded by retired nurse Helen Forrest (nee Whitney) in January 2000. Helen’s step-daughter, Kathy Forrest, took over the day-to-day running of the business in 2007.
Kathy Forrest explains, “I came from a practice management background and about two years ago Helen was looking at how her exit strategy should work in regards to finding someone who could manage the business and take it to the next level. Helen is semi-retired and has built this business up out of maintaining a fantastic relationship with her clients and has an amazing relationship with all her carers and staff. The business was born out of a passion, but it needed to go to the next level where there are more opportunities for growth.”
“I was employed as the business manager and now Helen is only working about one day a week in the office. But out on the golf course and the other things she does, she does a lot more work as well. I call her the PR machine because she talks about Dutiful Daughters to everyone she comes into contact with in the community.”
Although Kathy Forrest has worked hard to grow the business, she says the carers are the unsung heroes in the community. “It really sounds corny but I feel so blessed that we’ve got such an amazing team of people who work for us.”
20 percent of carers employed by Dutiful Daughters are male, which is way above the industry average. Affectionately known as ‘Dutiful Sons’, just like the female carers employed by the agency, the male carers come from all walks of life. Kathy spoke about one young man in particular from Europe who is currently studying business at university. He began by providing companionship to the agency’s elderly male clients and has since received training to help them with their activities of daily living.
“It’s interesting the walks of life people come from – I find it just so fascinating – we’ve got retired lawyers and people from other professions,” said Kathy.
“There are no licensing of certificates required but most of our carers have either certificate 3 or certificate 4 in aged or home and community care. If they don’t have these qualifications, we provide training. Some of the carers have been looking after a family member and come with a heart of gold, but no paperwork, so we try and steer them towards a number of courses.”
Dutiful Daughters currently employs 90 carers and receives up to 10 applications per week. “There are a lot of personalities involved and you can’t send just any carer to any job. So we make sure that we match up the suitability of carers to clients and skills.”
Personality clashes between carers and clients can and do happen. “It’s different to other businesses where the personality of the person providing the service is irrelevant – this is about people’s lives.”
“We make sure we have happy carers, a good working environment, continually offering them support and training and ongoing assistance – they’re your asset, your product. So we really work on making sure that our carers are happy and find out what they want.”
For more information visit the website www.dutifuldaughters.com.au