Larissa Teke – Health Care Assistant – Surrey

“I am Larissa Teke a career-changer who traded food service management for compassionate care. As a Food Service Supervisor, I saw the impact of nutrition on health and wanted to make a more personal difference in people’s lives. I relocated to Canada a year after achieving a BSC in integrated agriculture.

I’m glad to be part of the Health Care Assistant (HCA) program sponsored by Vancouver Coastal Health. Through out my study at Discovery Community College (DCC), I’ve mastered both hard and soft skills like patient care, infection control, clinical documentation and recording, empathy, patience and calmness, adaptability and effective communication just to name a few. I have equally discovered my passion for supporting seniors with dementia.

My proudest moment came when i redirected a resident with Alzheimer’s who had been saying “they wanted to go home” even though this was thought in school and it is in the textbook, it is quite different when you actually get to experience it . It is far from just asking them to tell you about their home because everyone is different, I did ask them to tell me about their home but that wasn’t helpful until I pulled out pictures of their family and ask them to tell me about those who were in the picture and how it was like to be with them. This brought a smile to their face, and afterwards, I let them have a rest as they were tired from too much talking. ‘Then I said to myself “This is where I’m meant to be” because I felt happy calming them.

Today, I work in the community as a community support worker, combining my food service expertise with HCA skills to enhance clients quality of life. Changing careers was the best decision I made, I’m making a difference, one meal and one smile at a time.

I’m so grateful to have been part of your family and I’m thankful for all the knowledge, skills and support DCC has provided me with.