Foundations for Assisting in Home Care

Home health services are those which are provided within the comforts of the home setting to help people avoid hospitalization or skilled nursing facility placement while they recover from illness, injury, or disability. Home health care may also be provided to people who suffer from chronic illnesses, those who have cognitive or physical disabilities or those who have been diagnosed with a terminal illness. Home Health Aide and Personal Care Aide are two of the fastest growing occupations. This text will provide you with the background necessary to begin working toward a career in the home care field. This course is intended as a self-study course for those interested in exploring a career as a Home Health Aide or Personal Care Aide.

This Open Educational Resource (OER) consists of 12 chapters which provide an overview of the responsibilities of the home health care worker. It includes the concepts and skills involved in working with patients with mental illness, developmental, and physical disabilities throughout the lifespan from infancy to death. Topics covered include nutrition, food planning, budgeting, safety, infection control, basic first aid skills, the use of proper body mechanics, and the provision of personal care. The text includes reading materials, interactive games, quizzes, and videos. This text will help introduce those interested in pursuing a career in the home health field to the basic knowledge and skill competencies required of a Home Health Aide and Personal Care Aide. This text is divided into 12 chapters. Throughout the text you will find numerous self-check activities to help you assess your understanding of course content. These activities are available in interactive and text-based formats.

This resource is designed to be used as a stand-alone text book to provide you with information about home health care. It may also be used along with completion of the Foundations for Assisting in Home Care course on the Coursera website. You can read content within the Coursera course and complete self-check activities and interactive games within this OER. If you are using this OER but wish to obtain a certificate of completion, you must return to the Coursera course in order to complete the post-chapter and final course exams. This text may also be utilized in home health aide/personal care aide programs in a variety of ways. Programs may elect to have students complete the Coursera course in preparation of beginning their program to obtain a certificate of completion or may decide to use this OER as their program text or as supplemental materials for their course.

Many health care and support services may be provided outside of the traditional health care environment such as a hospital, skilled nursing facility, rehabilitation center, or long-term care environment. Receiving care within the home allows individuals to remain in the comfort of their residence, surrounded by loved ones, while their health care and daily living needs are managed. Patients who receive home health care services have a team of health care workers together help patients and their families manage their needs.

As part of this team, the Home Health Aide (HHA)/Personal Care Aide (PCA) play a vital role. Home health aides and personal care aides often spend more time with patients than any other team member. Being a home health aide/personal care aide is a very rewarding career as you have an opportunity to play a very important role in the home care team. You will meet many different people and work in a variety of settings. You will often have the chance to work with the same patients and families for a long period of time. You will have the chance to get to know your patients and families in a very personal and special way as you work with them to meet their health care and daily living needs.

Home health aide and personal care aide are two of the fastest growing occupations. There is high demand for home health aide and personal care aide workers, with many opportunities for employment. This course will provide you with the background necessary to begin working toward a career as a home health aide/personal care aide. There are many similarities between home health aides and personal care aides. They both provide assistance to patients with eating, bathing, managing a budget, cleaning, and provide personal care. However, one important difference is that personal care aides may not perform any medical related service or task as a home health aide may. For example, personal care aides may not take blood pressures or assist patients with taking their medications.