Home Care

What it is

Home care health jobs can be a good starting ground for working in healthcare since they require little training, although pay can be low. Demand, however, in home care is expected to increase as the population ages and grows.

Home healthcare jobs, such as home health aides and personal and home care aides, help people who are elderly, disabled, ill and/or mentally disabled so that they can live in their own homes or in residential care facilities, instead of moving to a health facility. Most home healthcare jobs are with elderly or physically or mentally disabled clients who need more home care than family members or friends are able to provide.

What it's like

These jobs require you to travel to a patient’s home or to different care facilities, similar to other travel jobs in healthcare. Some home care is provided to assist patients who have recently left the hospital and are getting back on their feet, and other home care is required for longer periods of time.

Leland, 25 Emergency Medical Technician, training to be a Registered Nurse

This travel job in healthcare often does require going to a patient’s home. Aides many go to the same home every day for weeks, months or years, or they might give short-term home care. Some aides work with just one client, or patient, for a long period of time, while others may care for four or five clients on the same day. This can result in organizing shifts with other health aides if a patient needs home care throughout the day and night. Since home healthcare jobs vary, work environments do, too. Some can be neat and tidy, but others can be messy. Likewise, clients can be appreciative and pleasant, or they could be angry or depressed. Some home care aides work part time and many work evenings or weekends. To learn more about what working in home care is like, see what Leland has to say about his work as a personal care aide and nursing assistant.

What it takes

Pay is low, but initial training requirements are minimal. In some cases a high school diploma and state-issued license are required, and in others on-the-job training is provided.

To learn more about home care jobs, check out the job options to the right.

Jobs in this field

• Home Health Aide

  Salary range: $17,502 – $23,975 Minimum training:160-hour training; state-issued license required Job description:A home health aide is employed by private or public health care agencies to provide home care for the elderly or disabled. More

• Personal and Home Care Aide

  Salary range: $17,895 – $23,481 Minimum training:On-the-job training Job description:Personal and home care aides assist elderly or disabled adults with daily living activities at home or daytime care facilities. More