Caregiving

from: AARP, March 2010

The Caregiving industry is a smaller part of the health care industry and is made up of businesses that provide care giving services to adults as well as infants and children.

There are a number of trends that contribute to the rapidly increasing demand for caregiving services to adults:

The cost of institutionally-based healthcare continues to climb;

More and more seniors are opting to remain in their comfort of their homes as long as possible;

More and more boomers who need care for aging parents live long distances from those parents; and

Advances in in-home medical technologies are making in-home caregiving more feasible and cost-effective.

In addition, in many homes both parents work outside the home so, parents need caregiving services for their children, and many employers now offer caregiving services to children and seniors as an employee benefit. Thus, the caregiving industry provides many new employment opportunities for mature workers.

Adult caregiving organizations frequently offer free training to those who want to provide hands-on personal care, homemaker and companion services. These services often supplement home-based skilled nursing in the home, services done by trained professionals under a doctor’s prescription. Those skilled services include physical therapy, counseling, occupational and vocational therapy and high-tech care, such as intravenous therapy.

Organizations that provide caregiving services to children provide care to preschoolers, but often care for older children when they are not in school. They may also offer pre-kindergarten educational programs. And there are opportunities to provide home-based personal and medical care for children with special needs.

Types of Jobs Available

Child care worker

Baby sitter

Infant nurses

Nannies

Homemaker/ Housekeepers

Teachers

Administrative/Support Staff

Corporate/Regional Management

Home Health Aide

Home Care Nurse/Visiting Nurse – RN, LPN

Companion Caregivers