The life expectancy of people has
increased many times over as compared to earlier years. This has led to a
growing need for the personal support worker. The personal
support worker is an unregulated health professional who gives
compassionate care facility to the aged population bringing hope for a
better future in their lives.
Scope of Work
A personal support worker is also known as a health care aide, home attendant or home support worker. He or she has a number of duties to perform depending upon the situation and ability of the client. Some of the activities included in their work scope are physically assisting the client in his personal hygiene needs, home management tasks such as cleaning, laundry and shopping, caring for the children, managing social outings for the client or engaging him in some recreational activity. The main aim of their job is to enable the client to live his or her life with as much dignity as possible.
A personal support worker is also known as a health care aide, home attendant or home support worker. He or she has a number of duties to perform depending upon the situation and ability of the client. Some of the activities included in their work scope are physically assisting the client in his personal hygiene needs, home management tasks such as cleaning, laundry and shopping, caring for the children, managing social outings for the client or engaging him in some recreational activity. The main aim of their job is to enable the client to live his or her life with as much dignity as possible.
Job Locations
A health care aide can get gainful employment in various job settings like private care facilities, nursing homes, long-term care facilities, retirement homes, community centers etc. They also provide care based at the home of the client. The clients are normally people who are either aged or are incapacitated due to an accident or some illness.
A health care aide can get gainful employment in various job settings like private care facilities, nursing homes, long-term care facilities, retirement homes, community centers etc. They also provide care based at the home of the client. The clients are normally people who are either aged or are incapacitated due to an accident or some illness.
Attributes Needed for Success at Job
An
individual who is compassionate and patient is naturally endowed for
the job of a health care aide. Besides this, a positive attitude on his
part gets reflected in his day to day work and cheers up the client for
whom he works. Each day can bring some new challenge in his work and
hence he has to have an open mind which will be flexible to change when
required.
Good organizational skills are a must as without them he will not be able to complete his allotted tasks. Knowledge of first aid is helpful. Physical strength is also needed. These individuals work closely with the client and they should be someone whom the client finds trustworthy and dependable.
A health care worker provides companionship to the client and as such he should be open to talking or engaging his client. All normal tasks which are often taken for granted by us are performed with difficulty by the client and the health care worker has to ensure that the client can get his way during the day with as little help as possible.
Source of Training
A personal support worker certificate is needed as well as certification in CPR and first aid training for getting employment. Training for this vocation can be obtained at private career colleges, community colleges or adult education divisions of some education boards. Varied topics including personal hygiene, abuse and safety, mental health issues as well as interpersonal skills while dealing with the seniors will be covered.
