In-home caregiver duties include helping clients with day-to-day household tasks and nonmedical personal care, such as getting dressed, bathing and grooming. Home health care includes all the services that come with in-home care, along with some basic medical services, such as medication management, catheterization and monitoring of chronic health conditions.
Homemaker Duties
In-home caregivers, also known as homemakers, help seniors and people with disabilities perform everyday tasks. These tasks are things that home care clients may be unable to manage due to injury, illness or age-related loss of physical and cognitive functioning.
The goal of in-home care is to help individuals who are at risk of institutionalization remain safe and independent in their own homes. In-home caregiver duties are customized to meet the unique needs of each client, and these duties are often determined in coordination with a case manager.
Here are some examples of in-home caregiver duties:
- Assisting with light meal preparation
- Doing the dishes and the client’s personal laundry
- Light housekeeping, such as vacuuming, cleaning the washroom and tidying up
- Shopping for groceries for the client
- Helping the client sort through their mail
- Keeping the client active and engaged by going for walks, playing card games and encouraging the client to maintain social connections
- Providing overnight care and supervision
In-home caregivers also help their clients with activities of daily living, or ADLs, related to personal care. These activities include:
- Getting dressed
- Taking a bath or shower
- Using the toilet
- Shaving and grooming
- Transferring in and out of bed or a chair
- Moving around their home and neighborhood
- Eating
Depending on the caregiver and their employer, the in-home caregiver may be able to provide transportation to and from local shops and accompany clients to medical appointments.
In-Home Health Care Duties
The duties of an in-home health care provider include all the same duties of a home care worker, as well as some limited medical services. In-home health care providers have medical training that allows them to perform some basic medical care, such as:
- Checking vital signs
- Assisting with medication management
- Monitoring chronic health conditions, such as diabetes, sleep apnea, congestive heart failure and Alzheimer’s disease
- Performing ostomy care
