What does a home care attendant do?
A home care attendant is a health care worker whose primary job is to provide care and assistance to the elderly and people with disabilities. Your day-to-day duties will include monitoring and recording the condition of patients, performing housekeeping and laundry, and providing personal care services such as dressing and bathing. In addition, you will assist patients in caring for themselves by teaching them how to use a walker, cane, and personal hygiene equipment. As a home care attendant, you are also expected to adhere to asepsis procedures and standards to maintain a secure, healthy, and safe environment.
Home care attendant responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real home care attendant resumes:
- Manage clients bills, paid them, buy groceries, take complete care of their responsibilities.
- Self-Direct and empower, providing hygiene care, hospice and respite care to Alzheimer's patients and patients requiring long-term assistance.
- Provide companionship and conversation, stabilization, and assistance with walking, and providing medication and appointment reminders for assign patients.
- Maintain all confidential personnel files and CPR compliance records.
- Ensure that HHA's are trained to administer the required care.
- Interview applicants for HHA training program, and general clerical duties and some front reception coverage.
- Care for elderly and disable adults with activities of daily living (ADL) at their homes.
- Provide help with ADL's, assist with ambulation and transfers, assist in errands and light housekeeping.
- Provide family support and education for Alzheimer/dementia patients.
- Provide companionship and create opportunities for life enrichment, handle sensitive complaints and grievances effectively and confidentially and ensure prompt resolutions.
- Assist residents to and from cafeteria either by pushing them in wheelchair or walk next to them as they used walkers.
- Provide daily living care of Parkinson's ,
- Provide full time in-home care services for Parkinson's and dementia.
- Assist with Medicare billing and perform Medicaid billing on monthly basis, verification of Medicaid billing numbers and obtaining prior authorizations.
Home care attendant skills and personality traits
We calculated that 19% of Home Care Attendants are proficient in Patients, Home Health, and Companionship. They’re also known for soft skills such as Detail oriented, Integrity, and Interpersonal skills.
We break down the percentage of Home Care Attendants that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Patients, 19%
Diffused extremely anxious and traumatic situations for confused patients.
- Home Health, 16%
Provided home health care for elderly including medication supervision, transportation to appointments, and companionship.
- Companionship, 14%
Provided companionship and conversation, stabilization, and assistance with walking, and providing medication and appointment reminders for assigned patients.
- CPR, 6%
Maintained all confidential personnel files and CPR compliance records.
- Meal Prep, 5%
Helped with meal preparation, medication reminders, light housekeeping Doctor appointments and other miscellaneous errands.
- Patient Care, 4%
Worked directly with hospice nursing/case management to identify appropriate equipment needed for patient care.
Most home care attendants use their skills in "patients," "home health," and "companionship" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential home care attendant responsibilities here:
Detail oriented. The most essential soft skill for a home care attendant to carry out their responsibilities is detail oriented. This skill is important for the role because "home health aides and personal care aides must adhere to specific rules and protocols and carefully follow instructions to help take care of clients." Additionally, a home care attendant resume shows how their duties depend on detail oriented: "detailed documentation is critical in this job, because most of the clients have dementia or alzheimer's. "
Integrity. Many home care attendant duties rely on integrity. "home health aides and personal care aides should make clients feel comfortable when they tend to personal activities, such as helping a client bathe," so a home care attendant will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways home care attendant responsibilities rely on integrity: "home instead senior care is of the most trusted networks of home care worldwide. "
Interpersonal skills. This is an important skill for home care attendants to perform their duties. For an example of how home care attendant responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "home health aides and personal care aides must work closely with clients." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a home care attendant: "help patients to acquire the necessary interpersonal skills to function within society as well. ".
Physical stamina. home care attendant responsibilities often require "physical stamina." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "home health aides and personal care aides should be comfortable performing physical tasks." This resume example shows what home care attendants do with physical stamina on a typical day: "provided companionship and general care to seniors and physically disabled persons throughout the fort collins area. "
The three companies that hire the most home care attendants are:
- CARE112 home care attendants jobs
- At Home Healthcare23 home care attendants jobs
- Mohawk Valley Health System15 home care attendants jobs
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Compare different home care attendants
Home care attendant vs. Provider
Health care providers are health professionals and health organizations offering health care treatment and diagnosis services. These professionals play significant roles with patients through consultation, treatment, and advice. The health care they provide is of different variations. They even perform other procedures depending on the needs of the patients. Their responsibilities include comprehensive care and specialist work. Also, they help in duties, medication, and housekeeping. They transport clients to and from errands, activities, and appointments.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between home care attendants and provider. For instance, home care attendant responsibilities require skills such as "home health," "cleanliness," "care plan," and "senior care." Whereas a provider is skilled in "healthcare," "mental health," "customer service," and "social work." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Providers earn the highest salaries when working in the health care industry, with an average yearly salary of $55,214. On the other hand, home care attendants are paid more in the media industry with an average salary of $26,550.On average, providers reach similar levels of education than home care attendants. Providers are 2.5% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.6% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Home care attendant vs. Sitter
A sitter is responsible for assisting medical needs under the supervision of an attending physician, registered nurses, and other health professionals. Sitters monitor the patients' daily activities and perform medical duties such as taking the patient's temperature, administering medications, monitoring food intake, helping with bathing needs, and responding to the patients' inquiries, concerns, and requests. They also keep track of medical charts to report the patients' health condition and progress to the senior staff.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that home care attendant responsibilities requires skills like "patient care," "cleanliness," "in-home care," and "laundry services." But a sitter might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "kids," "patient safety," "pet," and "allergies."
On average, sitters earn a higher salary than home care attendants. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, sitters earn the most pay in the non profits industry with an average salary of $33,017. Whereas home care attendants have higher pay in the media industry, with an average salary of $26,550.sitters earn similar levels of education than home care attendants in general. They're 1.7% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.6% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Home care attendant vs. Companion
A companion is responsible for assisting sick and recovered patients, as well as the elderly. Companions perform housekeeping duties, ensuring that a facility is well-maintained and safe for the use of the patients. They also monitor the patients' medication, prepare their meals based on a medical professional's prescription, support them on their daily activities, respond to the patients' needs and special requests as allowed, and report any developments to their family or guardians. A companion must be compassionate enough to extend physical and emotional support, depending on the client's condition.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, home care attendants are more likely to have skills like "cleanliness," "in-home care," "laundry services," and "medical care." But a companion is more likely to have skills like "provide emotional support," "patient safety," "customer service," and "direct care."
Companions make a very good living in the non profits industry with an average annual salary of $30,973. On the other hand, home care attendants are paid the highest salary in the media industry, with average annual pay of $26,550.Most companions achieve a similar degree level compared to home care attendants. For example, they're 1.1% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Home care attendant vs. Attending, ambulatory care
An attending, ambulatory care is responsible for providing patient care, supporting ongoing treatment of health issues, and managing recovery through coordinating with attending physicians or other medical professionals. They evaluate medical records, including history and consultation purposes, develop a necessary care plan, keep an accurate medical chart, and schedule laboratory tests and follow-up as needed. An attending, ambulatory care must have extensive knowledge of the medical principles and disciplines to monitor the patients' condition and observe medical measures.
Types of home care attendant
Updated January 8, 2025
