Do you want to help an intelligent young woman with M.E. recover from her illness and injury, while also living close to nature and having spare time to spend on hobbies or personal projects? Then this may be the perfect job for you.
You will assist Elina, a 29-year-old woman with a diagnosis of M.E/CFS.
Elina’s illness makes her extremely tired and exhausted. She is bed-bound 22-23 hours per day and struggles with chronic fatigue, severe muscle weakness, neurological symptoms, PTSD, and more. She can walk and move around a little by herself, but her physical mobility is limited. She lives in a separate section of her family’s villa, with her own living room, bathroom, and entrance to the terrace outside.
You will help her have a life, including physical assistance. Your tasks include washing her hair, cooking and bringing her food or water, running errands (online or offline), providing companionship, and more.
The right candidate has experience taking care of people dealing with a long-term illness. You are relatively happy and emotionally well balanced, and good at taking initiative and making things happen.
You will live in the villa, in your own separate room. Food is included and you have access to a car. You will also receive a payment on top of this which will be discussed with you at the interview.
Living situation:
A modern villa in a suburban area outside of Gothenburg, Sweden. The forest is 5 metres from the house. There is a big lovely porch of 200+ square metres on the back of the house, facing the sun.
You have access to all the common areas of the house, including the living room, kitchen, porch, and more.
Your room is on the second floor of the house, and it comes with a door you can lock, a desk, and a spacious closet. You will have your own bathroom on the bottom floor (the guest bathroom).
There’s a lake 5 minutes away by walk, where you can swim if you wish. There is also a sauna enjoyed by the community which you will have access to.
There is a lot of nature nearby, with many trails for walking, running, and mountain biking, and (when winter allows) long distance ice skating and cross country skiing. A few minutes drive away you can find more nature, lakes and explore the countryside.
The local centre, with many shops and cafes, is 5 minutes away by car. The larger city of Göteborg is about 30 minutes away by bus, which runs multiple times per hour. If you take the car it’s only 15 minutes away.
Elina’s father lives in the house, but travels or works a lot so you and Elina will often be alone in the house. Elina’s adult sisters occasionally stay in the house as well. Elina’s grandparents live nearby, and come to visit sometimes.
Elina has a separate section in the house with her own bathroom, living room, porch etc and it is quite soundproof which means you are free to watch TV, play music, etc. while she is resting.
You are free to eat and cook anything you want from the kitchen for yourself. Any food you would like to buy from the grocery store. Besides what is already available you are free to add items to the grocery cart. Food is on us, but wine, candy and similar items are paid by you.
You have access to the car when making errands for Elina. You are also free to use it for personal use if it is available, where we’ll set a fee per km.
JOB DESCRIPTION:
You will meet Elina' daily needs. This includes cooking simple meals and preparing food in accordance with Elina's dietary needs, providing fresh water, smoothies, salad, making the bed, fixing pillows and towels, and other practical things. You will thoughtfully suggest and support general caregiving needs as they arise. You may also need to run errands, online or offline.
You will also help her with part of physical hygiene, such as clipping nails or washing her hair (toilet she can handle herself).
Your schedule will be partly predictable and partly unpredictable, but Elina sleeps a lot and rests most hours of the day, which means we estimate 3-5 hours of active hours per day. This leaves time for you to work on personal or business projects, hobbies, or enjoy the surrounding nature. In other words, most hours of the day your job is to simply be available and nearby when she needs your assistance.
ABOUT YOU:
- We think you are relatively happy, emotionally well balanced, and somewhat energized.
- You most likely have experience taking care of sick people, and you know you can handle this well, physically as well as mentally.
- You can do simple cooking or follow simple recipes (boiling egg, make smoothies, scrambled eggs, pancakes)
- You can take initiative and is solution-oriented
Driver’s license is needed and more or less a must-have. For the perfect candidate, this could be negotiable.
Great pluses are:
- If you have experience in the service industry (cafes, restaurants, hotels, etc)
- If you have a nursing degree, or similar
- If you have basic skills in physical therapy or even massage therapy