Home Care Worker Course

Lesson 1 • Roles and Responsibilities of Caregivers

Outlines daily duties, scope of practice, and professional boundaries. Clarifies what caregivers may and may not do independently.

Lesson 2 • Professional Ethics and Conduct

Covers honesty, confidentiality, and respectful behaviour as professional standards. Grounds students in ethical decision-making before entering client homes.

Lesson 3 • The Home Care Profession Overview

Defines home care work, its purpose, and the populations served. Establishes context for all subsequent skill development in the course.

Lesson 1 • Home Hazard Identification and Prevention

Identifies fall risks, fire hazards, and unsafe equipment in client homes. Prepares caregivers to conduct basic safety assessments before starting care.

Lesson 2 • Safe Body Mechanics for Caregivers

Teaches proper lifting, bending, and transferring techniques to prevent injury. Protects caregiver musculoskeletal health during physically demanding tasks.

Lesson 3 • Standard Precautions in Home Settings

Teaches hand hygiene, personal protective equipment use, and body fluid protocols. Forms the infection-control baseline applied throughout all care tasks.

Lesson 1 • Pressure Injury Prevention

Explains how pressure injuries develop and how repositioning prevents them. Connects skin assessment skills from bathing to proactive wound prevention.

Lesson 2 • Dressing and Grooming Assistance

Guides caregivers in helping clients dress while maximising client participation. Reinforces dignity-centred care and adaptive clothing strategies.

Lesson 3 • Oral, Hair, and Nail Care

Teaches brushing, denture care, hair grooming, and safe nail trimming. Supports client comfort and prevents infection from poor oral and skin hygiene.

Lesson 4 • Bathing and Skin Care Techniques

Covers bed baths, tub baths, and shower assistance with attention to skin integrity. Builds competence in the most frequent personal care task caregivers perform.

Lesson 1 • Understanding Client Mobility Levels

Classifies mobility limitations and links them to appropriate assistance strategies. Ensures caregivers match techniques to each client's functional capacity.

Lesson 2 • Repositioning Clients in Bed

Teaches turning, positioning, and use of pillows and wedges for bedridden clients. Directly prevents pressure injuries and respiratory complications.

Lesson 3 • Ambulation and Walking Assistance

Guides caregivers in supporting clients who walk with or without assistive devices. Reinforces fall prevention strategies introduced in the safety chapter.

Lesson 1 • Monitoring Hydration and Intake

Teaches fluid intake tracking and dehydration recognition in vulnerable clients. Connects nutrition monitoring to documentation and reporting responsibilities.

Lesson 2 • Food Safety and Kitchen Hygiene

Applies food hygiene standards to home kitchen environments. Prevents foodborne illness, a significant risk for immunocompromised and elderly clients.

Lesson 3 • Nutritional Needs of Home Care Clients

Reviews how aging, illness, and disability affect dietary requirements. Provides the knowledge base for planning and preparing client-appropriate meals.

Lesson 4 • Feeding Assistance and Dysphagia Awareness

Covers hand-over-hand feeding, adaptive utensils, and swallowing difficulty recognition. Ensures safe oral intake for clients who cannot eat independently.

Lesson 1 • Vital Signs Observation and Reporting

Introduces normal ranges for pulse, respiration, temperature, and blood pressure. Equips caregivers to notice and report deviations that signal health changes.

Lesson 2 • Safe Medication Storage and Handling

Covers proper storage conditions, expiration checks, and disposal of unused medications. Protects clients from medication errors and accidental poisoning at home.

Lesson 3 • Caregiver Role in Medication Management

Defines the difference between medication administration and reminders within scope of practice. Prevents dangerous errors by clarifying caregiver boundaries clearly.

Lesson 1 • Caring for Clients with Dementia

Covers dementia stages, behavioral symptoms, and person-centered communication strategies. Prepares caregivers for the most prevalent and challenging client population.

Lesson 2 • Heart and Respiratory Condition Support

Addresses activity restrictions, fluid monitoring, and breathing difficulty recognition. Connects vital sign observation skills to chronic disease management.

Lesson 3 • Diabetes Care in the Home

Explains blood sugar monitoring support, dietary compliance, and hypoglycemia response. Enables caregivers to assist diabetic clients safely within scope of practice.

Lesson 4 • Mobility Conditions and Disability Support

Covers care adaptations for stroke, Parkinson's disease, and musculoskeletal conditions. Builds on transfer and ambulation skills to address neurological and physical impairments.

Lesson 1 • Communicating with the Care Team

Covers verbal handoffs, written reports, and professional communication with nurses and supervisors. Builds the interpersonal skills needed for safe care transitions.

Lesson 2 • Principles of Accurate Documentation

Teaches objective, timely, and complete charting as a legal and clinical requirement. Establishes documentation as a core professional responsibility, not an afterthought.

Lesson 3 • Incident Reporting and Quality Improvement

Teaches how to document falls, errors, and near-misses using incident report forms. Connects individual reporting to agency-wide safety and quality improvement.