Personal and home care aides help people who are elderly, disabled, ill, and/or mentally disabled to live in their own homes or in residential care facilities instead of in health facilities or institutions. Most personal and home care aides work with elderly or physically or mentally disabled clients who need more extensive personal and home care than family or friends can provide. Some aides work with families in which a parent is incapacitated and small children need care. Others help discharged hospital patients who have relatively short-term needs.
Personal and home care aides—also called homemakers, caregivers, companions, and personal attendants—provide housekeeping and routine personal care services. They clean clients' houses, do laundry, and change bed linens. Aides may plan meals (including special diets), shop for food, and cook. Aides also may help clients get out of bed, bathe, dress, and groom. Some accompany clients to doctors' appointments or on other errands.
Personal and home care aides provide instruction and psychological support to their patients. They may advise families and patients on nutrition, cleanliness, and household tasks. Aides also may assist in toilet training a severely mentally handicapped child, or they may just listen to clients talk.
In home health care agencies, a registered nurse, physical therapist, or social worker assigns specific duties and supervises personal and home care aides. Aides keep records of services performed and of clients' condition and progress. They report changes in the client's condition to the supervisor or case manager. In carrying out their work, aides cooperate with health care professionals, including registered nurses, therapists, and other medical staff.
The personal and home care aide's daily routine may vary. Aides may go to the same home every day for months or even years. Aides often visit four or five clients on the same day. However, some aides may work solely with one client who is in need of more care and attention. In some situations, this may involve working with other aides in shifts so the client has an aide throughout the day and night.
Personal and home care aides generally work on their own, with periodic visits by their supervisor. They receive detailed instructions explaining when to visit clients and what services to perform for them.
Aides are individually responsible for getting to the client's home. They may spend a good portion of the work day traveling from one client to another. Aides must be careful to avoid over-exertion or injury when they assist clients.
Work environment. Surroundings differ from case to case. Some homes are neat and pleasant, whereas others are untidy and depressing. Some clients are pleasant and cooperative; others are angry, abusive, depressed, or otherwise difficult. Aides may spend a large portion of each day traveling between clients' homes.
About 33 percent of aides work part time, and some work weekends or evenings to suit the needs of their clients.
| 1. | Perform health care related tasks, such as monitoring vital signs and medication, under the direction of registered nurses and physiotherapists. |
| 2. | Administer bedside and personal care, such as ambulation and personal hygiene assistance. |
| 3. | Prepare and maintain records of client progress and services performed, reporting changes in client condition to manager or supervisor. |
| 4. | Perform housekeeping duties, such as cooking, cleaning, washing clothes and dishes, and running errands. |
| 5. | Care for individuals and families during periods of incapacitation, family disruption or convalescence, providing companionship, personal care and help in adjusting to new lifestyles. |
| 6. | Instruct and advise clients on issues such as household cleanliness, utilities, hygiene, nutrition and infant care. |
| 7. | Plan, shop for, and prepare nutritious meals, or assist families in planning, shopping for, and preparing nutritious meals. |
| 8. | Participate in case reviews, consulting with the team caring for the client, to evaluate the client's needs and plan for continuing services. |
| 9. | Transport clients to locations outside the home, such as to physicians' offices or on outings, using a motor vehicle. |
| 10. | Train family members to provide bedside care. |
| 11. | Provide clients with communication assistance, typing their correspondence and obtaining information for them. |
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