Island

Caregiver / Personal Care Aide

Through a close working relationship with the client/family and other service providers, the caregiver is involved in providing activities of daily living for the elderly and those with developmental disabilities.  It is the goal of the caregiver and the company to improve the quality of life for each individual client served and to assist them in making progress toward responsibility and independence.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Provide or assist with personal care activities
• Perform household services that are essential to the client’s care at home
• Assist with medications, if necessary, in accordance with company policy
• Transport the client to and from community events or other medical providers
• Maintain and complete documentation of the services performed
• Maintain a safe and positive environment for the client
• Observe and recognize changes in the client’s condition and report them to your supervisor
• Provide observed problems or other client information to your supervisor in a timely manner
• Always protecting the confidentiality of the client and any paper that contains client related information.

PERSONAL CARE ACTIVITIES DESCRIPTIONS

• Reminding the client to take a medication as prescribed
• Opening the medication container or bubble pack
• Handing the medication container to the client
• Assisting with application of skin, rectal, nose, eye and ear preparations under the specific direction of the client
• Personal Hygiene:  Assistance with care of hair, teeth, dentures, shaving, filing of nails, other basic personal hygiene and grooming needs.  Includes supervising clients who can perform these tasks when guided.
• Dressing:  Assistance with dressing and undressing.  Includes supervising clients who can dress and undress when guided, assisting with difficult tasks such as tying shoes and buttoning, and completely dressing or undressing clients unable to participate in dressing or undressing themselves.
• Bathing:  Assisting the client to bathe his or her body.  Includes supervising clients who can bathe themselves when guided, assisting clients with difficult tasks such as getting in or out of the tub or washing their back, and completely bathing clients totally unable to bathe themselves.
• Eating:  Assistance with eating.  Includes supervising clients who are able to feed themselves when guided, assisting with difficult tasks such as cutting food or buttering bread, and feeding clients unable to participate in feeding themselves.
• Toileting:  Assistance with bladder and/or bowel problems.  Includes supervising clients who can take care of their own toileting needs when guided and helping clients to and from the bathroom.  Assisting with bedpan routine, incontinence pads/briefs and lifting clients on and off the toilet.  May include performing routine general peri-care, emptying and cleansing colostomy bag, washing around a catheter, and emptying and cleansing catheter bags.
• Ambulation:  Assisting the client to move around.  Includes supervising clients who can walk alone or with the help of a mechanical device (such as a walker) when guided, assisting with difficult parts of walking (such as climbing stairs), supervising clients who are able to propel their wheelchairs when guided, pushing a wheelchair, and providing constant physical assistance to clients totally unable to walk alone or with a mechanical device.
• Transfers:  Assisting the client with getting in and out of a bed or wheelchair, on or off the toilet, or on and off another type of seat.  Includes supervising clients who are able to transfer when guided, providing steadying assistance, helping clients who can assist in their transfer, and lifting or using a Hoyer lift for clients unable to assist in their transfer.
• Travel for Out-of-home Services and Functions:  Accompanying or transporting the client to a physician’s office or clinic to obtain medical diagnosis or treatment, to other local areas to obtain diagnosis or treatment, or to other services, shopping, recreational, religious, or other functions related to the client’s well being. 
• Shopping:  Shopping in the local area to make purchases as directed by the client and family.   Includes assisting clients who can participate in shopping or for clients unable to participate.
• Meal Preparation:  Assistance with preparing meals.  Includes planning meals (including special diets), assisting clients who are able to participate in meal preparation, preparing meals for clients unable to participate, and cleaning up after meals. 
• Laundry Assistance:  Mending, washing, drying, and ironing clothes and linens.  Ironing should be limited to tasks required to make clothes presentable.  The laundry service is generally defined as the client’s clothes only.  The client is responsible for all costs related to laundry.  Laundry may be done at a laundromat if there is no washer or dryer in the house.

 If a question arises about a task, either the client or the caregiver should consult with their Care Coordinator before the task is attempted.

No climbing or heavy lifting should be done.  No tasks involving animal care. Tasks should be limited to those that protect the client’s health and safety and should be confined to the area of the home used by the client on a daily basis.  Caregivers do not normally do yard/garden work or outside cleaning.