Lesson 1: The Client

Learning Objectives

After this lesson, the Home Care Aide will be able to:

1. Describe the importance and impact of client-centered care on a client’s independence, self-determination, and quality of life;
2. Describe the role of a care team and the long-term care worker’s role in the care team; and
3. Recall the purpose of a service plan and how it is created and modified.

Key Terms

Adult family home (AFH): residential, neighborhood home licensed to care for two to six
people (qualified homes can apply for a capacity up to eight people).
Assessment: gathering information to determine what care and services a client needs and wants
and how and when they want assistance provided.
Assisted living facility (ALF): a larger residential facility licensed to care for seven or more people.
Care setting: where a client lives, such as an adult family home, assisted living facility, enhanced services facility, or their own house or apartment.
Care team: everyone who supports a client, including professionals, friends, family, and the client themselves.
Enhanced services facility (ESF): residential facilities for up to sixteen people with specialized
staff and intensive services that focus on behavioral interventions.
Functional disabilities: a physical, cognitive, emotional, or mental condition caused by disease, developmental disability, or chemical dependency that impairs a person’s ability to live independently.

Self-determination: the ability of a person to control what they do and what happens to them.
Service plan or care plan: a guide or map of the care and services a client wants and needs, including how and when services should be offered and who will provide them. In an assisted living facility, this document is called a “negotiated service agreement.”