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What does a home health assistant do?

Updated January 8, 2025
7 min read
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.

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Home health assistant responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real home health assistant resumes:

  • 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

Home health assistant skills and personality traits

We calculated that 28% of Home Health Assistants are proficient in Home Health, Patients, and Rehabilitation. They’re also known for soft skills such as Detail oriented, Integrity, and Interpersonal skills.

We break down the percentage of Home Health Assistants that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Home Health, 28%

    Implemented software Billing/Medical Documentation program for Home Health Agencies and HME

  • Patients, 21%

    Assisted elderly and disabled patients under direct supervision of licensed physician and nursing staff.

  • Rehabilitation, 9%

    Provided high-quality in a rehabilitation and home-healthcare settings.

  • Physical Therapy, 6%

    Care and outpatient therapy providers specializing in physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy services.

  • Compassionate Care, 4%

    Provided compassionate care and support to disabled clients o Organized daily medication administration o Completed light housekeeping and meal preparation tasks

  • CPR, 4%

    Certified to administer daily medications to clients, also certified in first aid and CPR.

"home health," "patients," and "rehabilitation" are among the most common skills that home health assistants use at work. You can find even more home health assistant responsibilities below, including:

Detail oriented. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a home health assistant to have is detail oriented. Their role and responsibilities require that "home health aides and personal care aides must adhere to specific rules and protocols and carefully follow instructions to help take care of clients." Home health assistants often use detail oriented in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "direct patient care to both individuals alert and oriented and terminally ill."

Integrity. Many home health assistant 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 health assistant will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways home health assistant responsibilities rely on integrity: "create activities to develop trust and companionship to ultimately improve daily behavioral issues. "

Interpersonal skills. home health assistants are also known for interpersonal skills, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to home health assistant responsibilities, because "home health aides and personal care aides must work closely with clients." A home health assistant resume example shows how interpersonal skills is used in the workplace: "worked with child and achieved yearly habilitation goals including adl's, motor skills, emotional awareness and interpersonal relationships. "

Physical stamina. A big part of what home health assistants do relies on "physical stamina." You can see how essential it is to home health assistant responsibilities because "home health aides and personal care aides should be comfortable performing physical tasks." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical home health assistant tasks: "revoke basic physical activity in many depressed clients by providing high quality companionship and exercise assistance. "

See the full list of home health assistant skills

The three companies that hire the most home health assistants are:

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Compare different home health assistants

Home health assistant 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.

The annual salary of sitters is $2,437 lower than the average salary of home health assistants.While their salaries may differ, the common ground between home health assistants and sitters are a few of the skills required in each roleacirc;euro;trade;s responsibilities. In both careers, employee duties involve skills like home health, patients, and physical therapy.

While similarities exist, there are also some differences between home health assistants and sitter. For instance, home health assistant responsibilities require skills such as "rehabilitation," "compassionate care," "hha," and "infection control." Whereas a sitter is skilled in "kids," "patient safety," "pet," and "allergies." This is part of what separates the two careers.

Sitters really shine in the non profits industry with an average salary of $33,017. Comparatively, home health assistants tend to make the most money in the health care industry with an average salary of $33,187.sitters tend to reach similar levels of education than home health assistants. In fact, sitters are 0.8% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.0% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.

Home health assistant vs. Care provider

A care provider is responsible for assisting patients with their healthcare needs at the highest quality service. Care providers work in various medical organizations or are privately employed by a household. They perform medical procedures such as taking the patient's temperature and vital signs, monitoring their food intake, administering medications, collecting specimens for laboratory tests, and reporting the patient's condition to the attending physician or other health care professionals. A care provider must have excellent communication and organization skills, especially when consulting with patients for their needs and developing healthcare plans.

A career as a care provider brings a lower average salary when compared to the average annual salary of a home health assistant. In fact, care providers salary is $1,509 lower than the salary of home health assistants per year.A few skills overlap for home health assistants and care providers. Resumes from both professions show that the duties of each career rely on skills like "patients," "physical therapy," and "cpr. "

In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, home health assistant responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "home health," "rehabilitation," "compassionate care," and "hha." Meanwhile, a care provider has duties that require skills in areas such as "senior care," "administer medications," "direct care," and "good judgment." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.

Care providers may earn a lower salary than home health assistants, but care providers earn the most pay in the government industry with an average salary of $32,543. On the other hand, home health assistants receive higher pay in the health care industry, where they earn an average salary of $33,187.In general, care providers achieve similar levels of education than home health assistants. They're 0.1% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.0% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Home health assistant vs. Elderly caregiver

An Elderly Caregiver provides personal and emotional support to people who cannot look after themselves. They are either hired by a client or their family, or report directly to a physician or a nurse.

On average scale, elderly caregivers bring in higher salaries than home health assistants. In fact, they earn a $5,948 higher salary per year.home health assistants and elderly caregivers both have job responsibilities that require similar skill sets. These similarities include skills such as "physical therapy," "cpr," and "care plan," but they differ when it comes to other required skills.

Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from home health assistant resumes include skills like "home health," "patients," "rehabilitation," and "compassionate care," whereas an elderly caregiver is more likely to list skills in "adaptive," "oral care," "senior care," and "dr."

Elderly caregivers make a very good living in the health care industry with an average annual salary of $33,167. On the other hand, home health assistants are paid the highest salary in the health care industry, with average annual pay of $33,187.Most elderly caregivers achieve a similar degree level compared to home health assistants. For example, they're 0.1% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Home health assistant vs. Live in caregiver

A live-in caregiver assists with dressing, exercise, bathing, grooming, and toileting services. These professionals offer essential food preparation services such as laundry, light housekeeping, meal preparation, shopping, and more. They offer general health care services such as administering medicine, appointment reminders, overseeing medication usage, and overseeing prescriptions usage. Moreover, they offer personal supervision services, whereby they provide general supervision and constant companionship. Also, they orient or ground individuals with dementia and Alzheimer's disease and relay the doctor's information to the family members.

Live in caregivers average a higher salary than the annual salary of home health assistants. The difference is about $5,694 per year.According to resumes from home health assistants and live in caregivers, some of the skills necessary to complete the responsibilities of each role are similar. These skills include "home health," "patients," and "physical therapy. "Each job also requires different skills to carry out their responsibilities. A home health assistant uses "rehabilitation," "compassionate care," "hha," and "infection control." Live in caregivers are more likely to have duties that require skills in "senior care," "incontinence care," "dementia care," and "pet. "In general, live in caregivers earn the most working in the non profits industry, with an average salary of $37,225. The highest-paying industry for a home health assistant is the health care industry.live in caregivers reach similar levels of education compared to home health assistants, in general. The difference is that they're 0.8% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.2% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Types of home health assistant

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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