Personal Caregiver and Home Care Aide Jobs

Also known as personal caregivers, attendants, or companions, personal and home care aides work with the elderly, or with mentally or physically disabled people who require assistance to complete everyday chores and tasks, such as cooking and cleaning. Most personal and home care aides work under the supervision of a health care agency, registered nurse, or social worker.

Job Description: A Day in the Life of a Personal and Homecare Aide

Personal and home care aides generally work in nursing homes, mental institutions, or private homes of elderly, disabled, or mentally challenged people. The work of a personal and home care aide may include doing laundry, changing bed linens, shopping, planning and cooking meals, and accompanying their patients to doctor’s appointments and on other errands. Depending on the situation, a personal and home care aide may also have to help his or her patient in getting up, dressing, bathing, and grooming.

A personal and home care aide must also offer mental support and companionship. This means spending quality time with patients, talking to them, and generally interacting with them. In some cases, an aide may work solely with one patient for months, or even years, at a time. In others, an aide may visit multiple patients – up to four or five per day – on a regular basis.

General Requirements and Training

Being a personal and home care aide requires immense amounts of patience, sympathy, and hard work. Official skills and training requirements for personal and home care aides are minimal and vary from state to state. Some states require formal training, generally available through vocational schools, community colleges, and home health care agencies, while other states require nothing more than on-the-job training. Whether formal or on-the-job, training generally includes information on nutrition and cooking, measures to keep spaces safe and sanitary, and basic emergency medical care techniques. Individuals may opt to obtain certification from the National Association for Home Care and Hospice (NAHC), although this is not a requirement.

Salary, Benefits, and Opportunities for Advancement

Special skill and training requirements to work as a personal and home care aide are low and as a result, pay for personal and home care aids are also quite low.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports the median salary for personal and home care aides to be $27,080 as of May 2020.

The report also suggests that job prospects will be good; due to the relatively low pay, there is a lack of individuals interested in pursuing home care careers, and the turnover rate is high.