Dapo Olugbodi is the Chief Executive Officer of Arrowshot Care Solutions, trailblazer in the care sector. He spoke with The Guardian on the need to secure professional care services for the aged and the need to maintain the highest standards in the sector. He said with government’s support, the industry would grow in leaps and bounds. Excerpts. Arrowshot Care Solutions has a strong focus on professionalism. Our staff are well-trained to care for the elderly and in line with standards that are uncommon in Nigeria. Our workers undertake an initial care assessment to determine the service-user’s needs and so tailor care to these needs. We also provide weekly reports to clients on how their relatives are doing, carry out one-month care and quarterly care reviews. Supervisors also conduct random unannounced checks on care givers and give clients direct access to a responsible manager empowered to make decisions – all underpinned by clear written policies.We also offer interactive website development. It is important to state that we focus on ensuring seamless communication with our target audience and stakeholders. We recently developed and redesigned our website to showcase our upscale service offerings. The new website also attracts our target audience and provides one stop shop for information on our service delivery.
Through the website, we project our strong care qualities, professionalism and targeted, bespoke solutions for every client and service user.The role of ICT is key in the effective delivery of professional services. We have found that most of the technologies that we were seeking to develop were not suitable for the Nigerian context. For example, we thought of deploying an app that will show clients overseas if a carer is in their parent’s house in Nigeria. We found this was not practical as many Nigerians switch off their data which means the app could not broadcast regularly. So, our ICT focus has been to develop a website that is extremely user-friendly. This is why after just one year of having this website, we have completely redesigned it to make it even better. It has a cleaner look and we have added new sections such as a ‘Testimonials’ section so people can easily see what our current clients are saying about us. We also have a new media section that covers news about ACS and our views about the care sector nationally and internationally. We enthusiastically invite people to visit our website and check us out on all the broadly used social media platforms – Facebook, Twitter (now known as X), Instagram and others.It is a positive development as the care sector will surely grow in leaps and bounds.
The future is, indeed, bright. Nigerian culture is rapidly changing. It used to be that once elderly citizens retired, they would go went back to their hometowns and villages where they would have relatives and neighbours to care for them. That is no longer the case. These days, retirees tend to find themselves living alone, struggling to meet their own personal needs by themselves. With services like Arrowshot Care Solutions, you will be able to rest assured that your loved one is getting quality care provided by people with integrity. It also means there will be immediate cover if one carer leaves, as a new carer trained to the same level can immediately take over. We will even provide care in the hospital if your relative is admitted.It should, however, be pointed out that Nigeria needs to compete favorably in the global market. The care sector is a vibrant one, which should be accorded government’s backing to make it grow. This may take the form of means-testing so that vulnerable people who cannot fund their own care needs themselves have their funding partially, or wholly provided by the government, especially state governments. Government can also put regulations and guidance in place to ensure high standards are achieved by entrants into the sector. Arrowshot Care Solutions can support and advise state governments who are interested.