Your Role for the Client
The Professional Caregiver
A Home Care Aide is a professional caregiver. You must understand your responsibilities and have the
knowledge and skills to perform them well. Your work will directly impact the quality of life and well-being of the people you support.
- Provide personal care as directed by the service plan and the client’s preferences.
- Follow common care practices to promote and protect the client’s rights, dignity, privacy, and safety.
- Observe, document, and report changes in the client’s behavior and/or condition.
- Follow a high standard of professional conduct, including maintaining professional boundaries.
- Prepare for and respond to emergency situations.
Your specific duties will depend on your care setting. See Home Care Aide Roles in Different Care Settings in the Resource Directory on page 276 for more information.
Providing Personal Care
Personal care tasks are the routine activities that we do to take care of ourselves. They include bathing, eating, and other self-care tasks that keep us clean, healthy, and well. A Home Care Aide supports a client’s independence by assisting with these kinds of personal care tasks.
Every person has their own strengths, preferences, and needs. Some clients may only want your support with tasks such as bathing, dressing, and taking their medications. Others might need more assistance with eating, toileting, and turning over in bed. Your responsibility is to protect the client’s independence, privacy, and dignity as you assist with their individual needs.
Personal Care Services
The client receives specific personal care services depending on their needs and preferences.
Reflection Question
Imagine you needed another person to help you use the bathroom and get dressed. How important would the quality of that care be to your life?
Activities of Daily Living (ADLs)
ADLs are the tasks we do to meet the basic needs of our everyday lives. The client will need some level of
support with these kinds of tasks. Some tasks may not be performed by a Home Care Aide without nurse
delegation.
See Module 11, Lesson 1: Self-Directed Care and Nurse Delegation on page 277 for more information.
Reference pages 80-81 of your text for the full chart containing all ADLs listed.