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Home health assistant vs health care assistant

The differences between home health assistants and health care assistants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a health care assistant has an average salary of $34,892, which is higher than the $31,161 average annual salary of a home health assistant.

The top three skills for a home health assistant include home health, patients and rehabilitation. The most important skills for a health care assistant are patients, customer service, and healthcare.

Home health assistant vs health care assistant overview

Home Health AssistantHealth Care Assistant
Yearly salary$31,161$34,892
Hourly rate$14.98$16.77
Growth rate36%36%
Number of jobs213,220242,669
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 29%Bachelor's Degree, 37%
Average age5050
Years of experience--

What does a home health assistant do?

People with disabilities, severe illnesses, cognitive diseases, or age-related issues regularly need medical healthcare, and if they prefer to receive care in their own home, a home health assistant is their caregiver. Home health assistants provide basic services such as checking vital organs, blood pressure, and temperature. They also administer medications, and in cases of injuries, tend wounds and change bandages. They are generally supervised by a medical professional, to whom they give reports.

What does a health care assistant do?

A health care assistant primarily performs support tasks to help nurses in providing care and assistance to patients. Their duties usually include assisting patients with their daily hygienic tasks such as bathing, going to the toilet, dressing, and brushing their teeth. They may also prepare meals according to protocols and guidelines, feed patients, assist them when walking, and run other errands as necessary. Most importantly, a health care assistant monitors the patients' condition and their treatment progress, coordinating with the nurses and physicians regularly.

Home health assistant vs health care assistant salary

Home health assistants and health care assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.

Home Health AssistantHealth Care Assistant
Average salary$31,161$34,892
Salary rangeBetween $20,000 And $46,000Between $25,000 And $47,000
Highest paying CityWest Springfield Town, MAAntioch, CA
Highest paying stateRhode IslandAlaska
Best paying companyJPMorgan Chase & Co.Medical University of South Carolina
Best paying industryHealth CareEducation

Differences between home health assistant and health care assistant education

There are a few differences between a home health assistant and a health care assistant in terms of educational background:

Home Health AssistantHealth Care Assistant
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 29%Bachelor's Degree, 37%
Most common majorNursingNursing
Most common college--

Home health assistant vs health care assistant demographics

Here are the differences between home health assistants' and health care assistants' demographics:

Home Health AssistantHealth Care Assistant
Average age5050
Gender ratioMale, 22.9% Female, 77.1%Male, 18.8% Female, 81.2%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 24.0% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 23.4% Asian, 10.5% White, 35.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1%Black or African American, 24.0% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 23.4% Asian, 10.5% White, 35.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1%
LGBT Percentage5%5%

Differences between home health assistant and health care assistant duties and responsibilities

Home health assistant example responsibilities.

  • Manage ventilator settings, suction tracheostomy, tube-feeding assistance.
  • Assist bed bound and hospice patients with their ADL, assistance with NG tube feeding, providing proper care for comfort.
  • Assist the patient with ADL'S (bathing, showering, grooming, mouth/denture care, dressing and undressing).
  • Assist elderly and disable patients under direct supervision of license physician and nursing staff.
  • Provide patients and families with emotional support and instruction living independently, or adapting to disability or illness.
  • Present peer to peer health education and provide administrative support to student health center including filing medical records using HIPPA compliant procedures

Health care assistant example responsibilities.

  • Monitor / enforce OSHA standards and coordinate / lead daily, weekly, and monthly safety meetings to educate staff.
  • Manage ventilator settings, suction tracheostomy, tube-feeding assistance.
  • Facilitate physical therapy exercises, positional rotation, monitor medication compliance and effects, provide companionship, carry out ADL's.
  • care professional, extremely competent, providing guidance and counseling for rehabilitation of mentally disturb patients.
  • Process consults requests for electrophysiology, EKG and other services.
  • Assist train staff in the event of cardiac arrest and actively participate in CPR.
  • Show more

Home health assistant vs health care assistant skills

Common home health assistant skills
  • Home Health, 28%
  • Patients, 21%
  • Rehabilitation, 9%
  • Physical Therapy, 6%
  • Compassionate Care, 4%
  • CPR, 4%
Common health care assistant skills
  • Patients, 20%
  • Customer Service, 11%
  • Healthcare, 10%
  • Patient Appointments, 8%
  • Direct Patient Care, 8%
  • Medical Equipment, 7%

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