Among the variety of vacancies in the American labor market, offers for HHA are of particular interest. Home health assistants are required in many situations and for a wide variety of people:
- disabled people who move in wheelchairs;
- those who have experienced a severe accident or have been seriously injured in other circumstances;
- older people who, due to health problems, find it difficult to cope with daily activities on their own;
- survivors of a stroke or heart attack and undergoing rehabilitation;
- suffering from dementia, paralysis, and other disorders of the nervous, musculoskeletal, and other systems.
It is not so challenging to start working as a home attendant: you must pass a specialized training course and certification, after which you will be issued a document confirming the necessary knowledge and practical skills. But first, you must figure out how suitable this activity is for you.
Questions Every Candidate Home Health Assistant Must Answer
At first glance, there is nothing complicated in helping an elderly or disabled person, especially for those who have taken care of elderly relatives in the past. However, with a detailed study of the duties and requirements for candidates, it turns out that not everyone can succeed in this profession. As you consider completing a training program and earning an HHA certification, you should assess your readiness to:
- Every day for 4-8 hours or more to be in the company of an elderly person.
- Patiently listen to the pensioner, even if he constantly talks about the same things.
- Empathize with someone else’s grief and make every effort to make the ward’s life comfortable.
- To be engaged not only in personal care but also in minor household duties in a strange house.
- Spending internal resources and time creating favorable conditions for a stranger.
- Interact with the ward’s nurse, physiotherapist, and relatives to improve his condition. It is essential that the helper listens to and fulfills the requests of family members and healthcare professionals.
- Often experience stressful situations and do not lash out at the client.
- Do not transfer negative emotions into ordinary life.
- Politely communicate with the client and maintain friendly relations, despite the claims on his part.
- Constantly improve and confirm your qualifications.
Responsibilities to be carried out by HHA
Theoretically, any adult citizen with good health and a sincere desire to help others can work as certified home health aide training Massachusetts. But in practice, only a few people cope with the work, mainly due to a lack of understanding of what will have to be done after employment. Below is an indicative list of duties of a home helper, which may vary depending on the arrangements with the employer:
- assistance during bathing and changing clothes;
- replacement of used hygiene products;
- support when moving around the house;
- first aid;
- performing small household tasks, for example, the customer may ask to wipe the dust, remove dirty things and start washing, change bed linen or throw out the trash;
- transportation to medical institutions and relatives;
- Meal preparation – often older people or those who are sick have special dietary needs, so they or their relatives arrange with an assistant to organize menu planning and food preparation based on medical recommendations or the preferences of the ward;
- combing hair, brushing teeth, caring for nails;
- Medication management and prescription assistance – with limited mobility, a person may not be able to travel to the hospital or pharmacy to get their medications, so an assistant must do this. Also, his duties include reminding and organizing the use of medicines prescribed by the doctor;
- Establishment of social relations – pensioners often lack communication, and the home attendant is the one who helps to solve the problem. Sometimes the customer has precise requirements, for example, every day to read 1-2 hours of a book or watch films with a ward, but most often this question is left to the discretion of the assistant;
- informing relatives about the state of health of the ward – the format of interaction can be different (in person, by phone, or via online communication).
What are the job prospects?
As medical care improves and technologies become available to deal with most serious illnesses and injuries, there is a growing demand for the services of people ready to take on the personal care of retirees. The number of elderly people is growing, but there are not so many worthy candidates, which is due to:
- psycho-emotional and sometimes physical complexity of work;
- the need to pre-pass the CPR training Boston program and obtain a certificate;
- the need to regularly validate the knowledge and skills acquired as part of the HHA studies;
- lack of need for many young people to assist those people who need it;
- perception of home attendants and home health aid as non-prestigious activities.
Thus, those who still go through a difficult path to obtaining a certificate and have the necessary personal qualities will not have problems finding a job. Moreover, experts predict an increase in vacancies by 41% by 2026. Significant incentives for learning are a good salary (from 30 thousand dollars a year, depending on the state), the ability to make a convenient schedule, and receiving all the benefits and services that rely on legal employment in the United States
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