What's it like to work as a home care assistant?
When we think of care work, it’s easy to conjure up images of a care home. Care homes and the people who work in them are often in the news. But what is home care? What’s it like to work as a home care assistant and what do they do exactly? We’ve written this ‘day in the life’ account to help you understand what home care is all about and what is involved in a home care job.
What is home care exactly?
Simply put, home care – or domiciliary care – is an option for people who don’t want to go to a care home. Home carers visit people throughout the day in their own homes to help them with the things they might need in a care home. People tend to be more independent in home care, but sometimes some quite complex needs are looked after too.
How is home care organised?
People are visited in their own homes up to four times a day for typically one hour at a time. The visits are usually breakfast, lunch, tea and evening. Home care assistants are given ‘runs’ of people to visit in a postcode area, which are planned so that they move from one visit to the next throughout the day. You might see around 4 people at breakfast, then visit the same people 3 times again on any given day at lunch, tea and evening times.
The day can start as early as 7am and the last visit is usually around 9pm. At Nouveau Care, our full time domiciliary care assistants have two hours off between 2pm and 4pm. There is also a break in the morning between breakfast and lunch.
This is a long day similar to nursing, but our full time salaried home care staff only work 7 days in 14 with alternate weekends. Part time care staff can also work half days under this pattern.
Home carers work alone or in pairs depending on the needs of the service users. Where two people are needed, they often work together all day.
Doesn't that involve a lot of travelling?
You’ll need to travel between addresses throughout the day, so being a car owner is ideal for home care work. People can work on foot, by bicycle or by using public transport but we’d only recommend this for part-time staff. Built up areas tend to have runs that can be walked, but a car is essential for more rural runs.
At Nouveau Care we pay our drivers 45p per mile for their travel expenses. We find this covers fuel and running expenses.
How do home carers know where to go and when?
Some care agencies still work with paper log in sheets and rotas, but most have now gone digital.
At Nouveau Care we have an app that lets our carers know what days they are working and who to visit. They log in to visits on their phones and record visit notes & report concerns. There’s even a link to google maps to help you navigate.
What kind of help do people in home care need?
Many people receiving care at home have very simple needs, but needs can also be complex. Our typical service user might have the beginnings of dementia or some trouble with their mobility – perhaps after a stroke.
People might need support with their personal care, medication or meals. This can range from minor assistance to do these things independently to full support.
The most complex needs you are likely to encounter are people who are bed bound – for this, there are often two carers and equipment such as hoists.
Your morning calls are likely to be more demanding, but a lunchtime visit might be as simple as preparing a meal and a cup of tea.
Often a big part of community care is simply checking people are OK & picking up on illnesses to get the right help for them.
Will I need medical training?
No – you’ll receive basic training to administer medication but you don’t need any medical qualifications. The training is generally around knowing how to recognise & report issues with medication – it’s mostly for others to decide what is taken and when.
Your day to day work with medication will involve following the instructions on pharmacy labels and keeping records. If the person is capable of managing their own medication you’ll simply give them a reminder.
Everything in community care stops short of nursing services. If a dressing needs changing, you’ll be the person that reports it not the person who changes it.
How is the pay for home care?
Home care pay can be difficult to understand in since many agencies pay for the time at visits but not the travel time between. This is why you will sometimes see a surprisingly high hourly rate being advertised.
Time spent travelling is time spent working, and employers have an obligation to pay at least minimum wage throughout your working hours.
It’s probably best to seek out an employer that pays in the same way as other jobs – by paying hourly across the day for all your time.
Our approach at Nouveau Care is to pay salaries for full time work. This way our care assistants get guaranteed income and stability. Where we do pay hourly it is across the shift – travel time included. We roll our holiday pay into our hourly rate since it’s aimed at part time staff who generally prefer this arrangement.
