CPAC: Roles and Responsibilities of a Home Care Worker
Lesson Descriptions and Learning Objectives
CPAC: Roles and Responsibilities of a Home Care Worker
This is a list of lessons found in this course with their description and learning objectives:
Lesson 1: Home Care Workers: Who are They and Who Do They Work For?
Lesson Description: This lesson will describe who home care workers are as well as some other names or titles they might go by. You will also learn about paid workers and unpaid workers, family caregivers, agency workers, and independent workers. Finally, this lesson will also describe the types of people caregivers might work for, as well as how to work for someone who directs the services, supports, and care that they receive in their home.
Learning Objective
Describe who home care workers are, including the difference between paid and unpaid workers as well as agency vs. non-agency workers, and discuss the types of people who use home care workers.
Lesson 2: What Do Home Care Workers Do?
Lesson Description:In this lesson you will learn what home care workers and caregivers do, including both personal and non-personal care tasks. As part of your job, home care workers are also supposed to help keep a person healthy by following infection control procedures so you don’t spread germs. Your work also includes helping to keep people safe in their homes. This means that home care workers need to make sure the home environment is safe and clean. This also includes being able to recognize, document, and report abuse. Lastly, the role of a home care worker must also be defined by professional boundaries so that expectations and roles are clear and private and confidential information is not shared.
Learning Objective
Discuss the role of home care workers and describe what they do, including tasks on how to keep people healthy and safe in their homes.
Lesson 3: Communication
Lesson Description:In this lesson you will learn about the importance of communication. In your job as a home care worker, you will have to communicate with many diverse groups of people. This can include a person with a disability, older adult, family member or spouse, health care professionals, and other caregivers or home care workers. You also have to consider that all of these people may come from diverse backgrounds and have different experiences and cultural norms. Some people might use sign language. Some people might have speech disabilities and use augmentative or alternative forms of communication. Because of this, it’s important that you’re familiar with many of the different ways to communicate.
Learning Objective
Describe the different ways to communicate with diverse groups of people including people with disabilities, older adults, self-directing individuals, others who may be part of the care team, and people who may use augmentative or alternative forms of communication.
Lesson 4: Rights and Responsibilities
Lesson Description:In this lesson you will learn about the rights of home care workers, as well as the responsibilities that they have toward the person they work for. You will also learn about different rights depending on if home care workers are employed by a home care agency or a home health agency. You will also learn what a work agreement is and why it’s an important document for home care workers to have. Lastly, you will learn about some things you can do if you feel your rights have been violated.
Learning Objective
Discuss the various rights and responsibilities of home care workers, including the rights and responsibilities of home care workers who are employed by home care or home health agencies.
Lesson 5: Home Care Worker Tasks
Lesson Description:In this lesson you will learn more about the kinds of tasks that home care workers do. This includes personal care tasks such as grooming and hygiene. Home care workers also help with food-related tasks such as meal preparation and assistance. There are also non-personal care tasks that home care workers help with, including various household tasks that might include running errands, paying bills, doing paperwork, and light home, equipment or plant maintenance. Other home care tasks can include following proper infection control procedures when cleaning as well as helping with mobility-related tasks, including transfers.
Learning Objective
Identify and describe the various personal and non-personal care tasks that a home care worker might be asked to help with or do.
Lesson 6: Home Safety
Lesson Description:In this lesson, you will learn about things you can do in the home to help keep the person you work for safe and healthy. This includes repositioning items in the home or making small changes that can help to improve home safety. Home safety also includes safe food handling, preparation, and storage, as well proper cleaning and waste disposal in the kitchen and bathroom. It’s also important to use correct body mechanics and posture when doing lifts or transfers so that you don’t hurt yourself or the person you work for. Home safety also means helping the person to be prepared for either a health emergency or natural disaster.
Learning Objective
Discuss the importance of safety in the home and identify at least five different ways to ensure safety in a home setting.
Lesson 7: Abuse
Lesson Description:In this lesson you will learn about the following types of abuse: physical abuse, emotional and verbal abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, financial abuse and exploitation, and intimate partner violence. You will also learn about some of the signs of abuse that will help you recognize when it might be happening.
Learning Objective
Identify and describe at least six different types of abuse and discuss some of the signs of each type of abuse.
Lesson 8: Documentation and Reporting
Lesson Description:You will also learn why it’s important to document and report abuse as a home care worker. You will learn what types of events should be reported and what to do if you suspect or see abuse happening. Lastly, you will learn what information to include when you document and report about abuse and who to report the abuse to.
Learning Objective
Discuss why the documentation and reporting of abuse is important, what kinds of events are reportable, and how to document abuse.
Lesson 9: Professionalism and Boundaries
Lesson Description:In this lesson you will learn about the Code of Ethics that home care workers are expected to follow. You will also learn about both professional and unprofessional behaviors on the job, and how setting and maintaining boundaries are an important part of the work you do. Lastly, you will learn about the importance of respecting the differences among the people you work for and how respecting these differences can help you set boundaries and maintain professionalism at your job.
Learning Objective
Provide at least 2 examples of ethical standards, professional behaviors and unprofessional behaviors of home care workers and describe why it’s important for them to set and maintain boundaries at their job.
Lesson 10: Privacy and Confidentiality
Lesson Description:In this lesson you will learn why it’s important to respect and protect the privacy of the person you work for. You will learn about what kind of personal information should be kept private and confidential. You will learn when it’s OK to share confidential information, even if you don’t have the permission of the person to do so. This lesson will also explore how confidential information can accidentally be shared and what can happen as a result. Lastly, this lesson will discuss how you can protect the financial information of the person you work for.
Learning Objective
Explain the types of information that should be kept private and confidential and describe when this kind of information can be shared without permission.