Median hourly earnings of personal and home care aides were $7.81 in 2002. The middle 50 percent earned between $6.65 and $9.06 an hour. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $5.90, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $10.67 an hour. Median hourly earnings in the industries employing the largest numbers of personal and home care aides in 2002 were as follows:
| Residential mental retardation, mental health and substance abuse facilities | $8.63 |
| Vocational rehabilitation services | 8.40 |
| Community care facilities for the elderly | 8.14 |
| Individual and family services | 8.12 |
| Home health care services | 6.72 |
Most employers give slight pay increases with experience and added responsibility. Aides usually are paid only for the time they work in the home and normally are not paid for travel time between jobs. Employers often hire on-call hourly workers and provide no benefits.
Personal and home care aides help elderly, disabled, and ill persons live in their own homes or in residential care facilities instead of in a health facility. Most personal and home care aides work with elderly or disabled clients who need more extensive personal and home care than family or friends can provide. Some aides work with families in which a parent is incapacitated and small children need care. Others help discharged hospital patients who have relatively short-term needs. (Home health aides—who provide health-related services, rather than mainly housekeeping and routine personal care—are discussed in the statement on nursing, psychiatric, and home health aides, elsewhere in the Handbook.)
Personal and home care aides—also called homemakers, caregivers, companions, and personal attendants—provide housekeeping and routine personal care services. They clean clients’ houses, do laundry, and change bed linens. Aides may plan meals (including special diets), shop for food, and cook. Aides also may help clients move from bed, bathe, dress, and groom. Some accompany clients outside the home, serving as a guide and companion.
Personal and home care aides provide instruction and psychological support to their patients. They may advise families and patients on such things as nutrition, cleanliness, and household tasks. Aides also may assist in toilet training a severely mentally handicapped child, or they may just listen to clients talk about their problems.
In home healthcare agencies, a registered nurse, physical therapist, or social worker assigns specific duties and supervises personal and home care aides. Aides keep records of services performed and of clients’ condition and progress. They report changes in the client’s condition to the supervisor or case manager. In carrying out their work, aides cooperate with other healthcare professionals, including registered nurses, therapists, and other medical staff.
Excellent job opportunities are expected for this occupation, as rapid employment growth and high replacement needs produce a large number of job openings.
Employment of personal and home care aides is projected to grow much faster than the average for all occupations through the year 2012. The number of elderly people, an age group characterized by mounting health problems and requiring some assistance, is projected to rise substantially. In addition to the elderly, however, patients in other age groups will increasingly rely on home care, a trend that reflects several developments, including efforts to contain costs by moving patients out of hospitals and nursing care facilities as quickly as possible, the realization that treatment can be more effective in familiar rather than clinical surroundings, and the development and improvement of medical technologies for in-home treatment.
In addition to job openings created by the increase in demand for these workers, replacement needs are expected to produce numerous openings. The relatively low skill requirements, low pay, and high emotional demands of the work result in high replacement needs. For these same reasons, many people are reluctant to seek jobs in the occupation. Therefore, persons who are interested in and suited for this work—particularly those with experience or training as personal care, home health, or nursing aides—should have excellent job opportunities.
In some States, this occupation is open to individuals who have no formal training. On-the-job training is then generally provided. Other States may require formal training. The National Association for Home Care offers national certification for personal and home care aides. Certification is a voluntary demonstration that the individual has met industry standards.
Successful personal and home care aides like to help people and do not mind hard work. They should be responsible, compassionate, emotionally stable, and cheerful. In addition, aides should be tactful, honest, and discreet, because they work in private homes. Aides also must be in good health. A physical examination, including State-mandated tests, such as those for tuberculosis, may be required.
Advancement for personal and home care aides is limited. In some agencies, workers start out performing homemaker duties, such as cleaning. With experience and training, they may take on personal care duties.
Personal and home care aide is a service occupation combining the duties of caregivers and social service workers. Workers in related occupations that involve personal contact to help others include childcare workers; nursing, psychiatric, and home health aides; occupational therapist assistants and aides; and physical therapist assistants and aides.
General information about training, referrals to State and local agencies about job opportunities, a list of relevant publications, and information on certification for personal and home care aides are available from:
Almost a third of personal and home care aides work part time; most aides work with a number of different clients, each job lasting a few hours, days, or weeks. Some aides work with families in which a parent is incapacitated and small children need care. Others help discharged hospital patients who have relatively short-term needs. Personal and home care aides provide instruction and psychological support to their patients. Aides keep records of services performed and of clients’ condition and progress.
Summary of: http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos173.htm
Years ago, these people would have had no other choice but the nursing home. Part of the boom has occurred simply because insurance companies now make people leave the hospital release patients sooner than they once did. Home health care is far cheaper than hospital care. Home health aides fill in what would otherwise be a huge healthcare gap. They also bathe, dress, and groom patients who can't do these things on their own and make sure that patients are eating and drinking as they should.
Summary of: http://www3.ccps.virginia.edu/career_prospects/briefs/E-J/HomeHealthAides.shtml
Personal and home care aides help elderly, ill, and disabled people by assisting with hygiene, housekeeping, and more. Make High School Count Read to the blind, deliver meals to shut-ins, or take on other volunteer work to test the waters and find out if this a job for you. Learn the basics of nutrition and health in health science. About one-third of all personal and home care aides work part time. Outlook Government economists expect jobs for personal and home care aides to grow much faster than the average for all careers through 2012.
Summary of: http://www.collegeboard.com/csearch/majors_careers/profiles/careers/102468.html
People who are disabled due to strokes or injuries may find it impossible to bathe themselves, dress themselves, or cook their own meals. They work to help people stay in their own homes in their senior years or during illness, rather than moving temporarily or permanently to a nursing home or health care facility. Under the direction of a nurse or doctor, they visit their clients' homes on a regular basis to cook, run errands, drive clients to and from appointments, and do light housekeeping. They may plan special meals, help clients move from room to room and remind clients of personal hygiene tasks. Unlike home health aides, personal care aides usually do not provide health-care related services like giving medication, checking vital signs, or changing dressings.
Summary of: http://www3.ccps.virginia.edu/career_prospects/briefs/P-S/PersonalCareAides.shtml
Most work with elderly or disabled clients who need more extensive care than family or friends can provide. Some home health and personal care aides work with families in which a parent is incapacitated and small children need care. They clean clients’ houses, do laundry, and change bed linens. Some aides plan meals (including special diets), shop for food, and cook. For example, they may assist in toilet training a severely mentally handicapped child, or just listen to clients talk about their problems.
Summary of: http://www.hspeople.com/includes/hspeople/hspeople/aboutHomeHealthAideJobs.cfm
Their help allows people to live at home instead of in a health facility. Most aides work with elderly or disabled clients who need more care than family or friends can provide. Some aides work with families in which a parent is ill and small children need care. They like to work in a friendly, non-competitive environment. They like to be treated fairly and have supervisors who will back them up.
Summary of: http://www.iseek.org/sv/13000.jsp?id=100404
Most work with elderly or disabled clients who need more extensive care than family or friends can provide. Some homemaker-home health aides work with families in which a parent is incapacitated and small children need care. These workers are sometimes called home care aides and personal care attendants. Aides may also plan meals (including special diets), shop for food, and cook. For example, they assist in toilet training a severely mentally handicapped child or just listen to clients talk about their problems.
Summary of: http://www2.jobtrak.com/help_manuals/outlook/ocos173.html
Most work with elderly or disabled clients who need more extensive care than family or friends can provide. Some aides work with families in which a parent is incapacitated and small children need care. Others help discharged hospital patients who have relatively short-term needs. Some accompany clients outside the home, serving as a guide and companion. Personal and home care aides also provide instruction and psychological support.
Summary of: http://www.umsl.edu/services/govdocs/ooh20022003/ocos173.htm
Home health aides provide the treatment patients need at home when their families are unable to help out. They give clients their medication. Home health aides work with clients on a daily, weekly, or ongoing basis. Home health aides participate in case reviews with the entire care team. They like to work in a friendly, non-competitive environment.
Summary of: http://www.iseek.org/sv/13000.jsp?id=100100