Care partner vs direct care counselor

The differences between care partners and direct care counselors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a direct care counselor has an average salary of $33,422, which is higher than the $31,723 average annual salary of a care partner.

The top three skills for a care partner include patients, vital signs and care plan. The most important skills for a direct care counselor are crisis intervention, autism, and CPR.

Care partner vs direct care counselor overview

	Care Partner	Direct Care Counselor
Yearly salary	$31,723	$33,422
Hourly rate	$15.25	$16.07
Growth rate	36%	36%
Number of jobs	85,778	123,519
Job satisfaction	3	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 34%	Bachelor's Degree, 50%
Average age	48	48
Years of experience	-	-

What does a care partner do?

A care partner is in charge of taking care of patients in a medical facility. Their responsibilities typically revolve around coordinating with health care experts to learn about the patients' specific care plans and assisting them in their daily hygienic tasks such as bathing, dressing, and going to toilets. They may also help patients when walking or moving around. Furthermore, as a care partner, it is essential to provide emotional support to patients and monitor their progress, reporting to nurses or doctors regularly.

What does a direct care counselor do?

A direct care counselor provides direct counseling and assistance to the elderly or individuals with disabilities and mental issues. They usually work at rehabilitation centers or care facilities and work together with nurses or caregivers to administer different treatment plans, monitor and support the patients' progress, and help the patients carry out daily activities such as performing hygienic or routine living tasks. Moreover, a direct care counselor may also develop and implement various healthcare programs and recreational activities while adhering to the facility's policies and regulations.

Care partner vs direct care counselor salary

Care partners and direct care counselors have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Care Partner	Direct Care Counselor
Average salary	$31,723	$33,422
Salary range	Between $22,000 And $44,000	Between $22,000 And $49,000
Highest paying City	Great Falls, MT	-
Highest paying state	Alaska	-
Best paying company	Mount Sinai Health System	-
Best paying industry	Health Care	-

Differences between care partner and direct care counselor education

There are a few differences between a care partner and a direct care counselor in terms of educational background:

	Care Partner	Direct Care Counselor
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 34%	Bachelor's Degree, 50%
Most common major	Nursing	Psychology
Most common college	-	-

Care partner vs direct care counselor demographics

Here are the differences between care partners' and direct care counselors' demographics:

	Care Partner	Direct Care Counselor
Average age	48	48
Gender ratio	Male, 15.0% Female, 85.0%	Male, 31.5% Female, 68.5%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 12.0% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 17.5% Asian, 8.7% White, 56.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.2%	Black or African American, 11.4% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 17.6% Asian, 8.3% White, 57.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

Differences between care partner and direct care counselor duties and responsibilities

Care partner example responsibilities.

Manage CMS, state, and complaint surveys.
Manage shelterpractices and evaluate various volunteering, outreach, foster, rescue, and pet placement programs.
Manage ventilator settings, suction tracheostomy, tube-feeding assistance.
Direct motion capture shoots for adding more animation to existing characters for crowd simulation.
Comfort care and ADL's, including range of motion exercises and encouraging early mobility in post-op patients.
Work on the Neurosurgery/Neuroscience unit caring for step down patients from the ICU, seizure patients and stroke patient.

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Direct care counselor example responsibilities.

Obtain SCIP-R, CPR, and AMAP certifications.
Provide training to residents in improving ADL and independent living skills per the IHP and any/all relate behavior or medical requirements.
Obtain AMAP certification and administer medications under the supervision of assign nursing staff.
Provide direct care assistance for campers with autism, intellectual disabilities, and/or developmental delays.
Perform one-on-one supervision of children with disabilities including autism, complex mental health problems, and complex behavioral problems.
Help develop and carry-out treatment goals for individual clients as outlined in treatment plans and/or ISP goals and objectives.

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Care partner vs direct care counselor skills

Common care partner skills

Patients, 17%
Vital Signs, 9%
Care Plan, 6%
Medication Administration, 5%
CPR, 5%
Customer Service, 4%

Common direct care counselor skills

Crisis Intervention, 12%
Autism, 11%
CPR, 10%
Developmental Disabilities, 10%
Incident Reports, 9%
Data Collection, 8%

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Updated January 8, 2025

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