Caregiver

The duties and responsibilities of a caregiver are mainly centered around helping vulnerable people perform regular activities of daily living (known as ADLs). These are everyday tasks that you can help a care receiver accomplish without any medical expertise or special training.

Here are a few examples of tasks you may help an individual perform as their caregiver:

• Dressing
• Bathing and performing other hygiene-related tasks
• Standing up, sitting down, or moving from one place to another
• Cooking and preparing meals
• Remembering to take medication
• Getting from home to other locations (e.g., the clinic or grocery store)
• Feeling safe and comfortable

Although care work involves a lot of physical labor, this isn’t the only responsibility of a caregiver. A big part of the role is providing companionship through conversation and words of encouragement.

We spoke to Donna Thomson, who has many years of experience as a caregiver for family members and now offers education and consultancy services for other caregivers. She emphasized that the emotional labor of caregiving is at least as taxing as the physical labor.

She explained that, “The caregiver must perform physical care while minimizing the dependency of the care receiver. This is a tricky balancing act to preserve dignity and present the ‘best self’ of the care receiver to the world.”

Thomson also highlighted the difficulty of coping with disease, disability, or aging, which frequently involves loss and sometimes pain. “Every individual will cope differently with these challenges,” she said.

To be a professional caregiver, you’ll have to meet several requirements, which vary slightly from state to state:

• Age: In many cases, you’ll need to be at least 18 or 21 years old to be a caregiver. Technically, federal law allows you to perform limited caregiving tasks at the age of 14 years old, but many states and employers set stricter age requirements.
• Education: Many employers require you to have a high school diploma, General Educational Development (GED) certificate, or Certificate of High School Equivalency. However, you may be able to get around this requirement if you’re self-employed.
• Professional training and certifications: Depending on the legal requirements in your state, you may need to hold a caregiving certification or license. However, some employers will provide the requisite caregiving training (which may include CPR training) after you’re hired.
• Physical fitness: You may need to meet certain physical requirements to be a caregiver since the role is often fairly active and sometimes involves heavy lifting. Some employers will even require you to undergo a health check or tuberculosis test.
• Criminal background check: Many employers will also require you to undergo a background or FBI check before they’ll hire you. This is because you’ll be working with vulnerable individuals as a caregiver, such as elderly and disabled people.
• Driver’s license: Some of your care duties may involve taking your care receiver to different locations to run errands. For instance, you might go shopping, go to the doctor, or pick up medications from the pharmacy, so many employers will require you to have your own car with a valid driver’s license and insurance.

Skills

In addition to hard requirements, there are certain skills and characteristics that will make you suited to the role of caregiver:

• Compassion: The number one most important trait of a caregiver is compassion and empathy. You need to be in tune with your care receiver’s needs to do your job well.
• Patience: Caregiving can be frustrating at times, and you need to be able to keep your cool. Care receivers may do better one day than the next, and you need to be able to stay calm and patient even when they’re at their worst.
• Observational skills: People who require care can’t always communicate their needs effectively. You need to be able to spot signs of discomfort and fulfill unspoken needs.
• Integrity and strong work ethic: Leaving a job half-completed can cause your care receiver discomfort or even put them at risk. As a caregiver, you don’t have the luxury of ever phoning it in; you need to give the job your all every single day.
• Organizational skills: You’ll be juggling a lot of different duties. You need to be able to prioritize important tasks and remember small details, such as which medications your care receiver needs to take and when they need to take them.

Thomson said that she had some innate skills that made her well-suited to the role of a carer. “By nature, I am a creative problem solver and seeker of justice,” she explained. “I am very curious about how other people experience the world, and so I listen intently (even to non-speaking individuals such as my son).”

Since you’re considering a career as a caregiver, you probably already have good intentions and a big heart, which is all you really need to get your first caregiving job. As you gain experience, you’ll gradually develop and improve these other skills.

“Over my years of caregiving, I have developed leadership and organizational skills,” Thomson told us. “I have learned how to manage and collaborate with paid staff and ensure the smooth sharing of information amongst the team.”

In many cases, personal caregivers don’t need licensure or formal certification because their duties are limited to everyday tasks (like doing light housework, prepping meals, or providing companionship) rather than healthcare tasks. However, you can get certified as a caregiver quickly, easily, and at very little cost, and doing this can open the door to more job opportunities.

Thomson agreed that certification is a good idea in some cases. “Certification enables caregivers to have a career path and higher wages,” she said.

However, she told us that her own qualifications are unrelated to caregiving, so it’s certainly possible to do the job without any relevant credentials (unlike other professions that require a college degree or at least 1–2 years of training), depending on where you live.

Check the caregiving training and licensing requirements in your state

To find out what training and licensing you need to become a caregiver, search the requirements for caregivers on your state government’s website or check Home Care Pulse’s overview of caregiving training and licensing requirements by state (although beware that regulations and requirements frequently change).

Some states have no training requirements whatsoever, meaning you can get a job as a caregiver right away. However, some jurisdictions require you to get intensive training. For example, Washington, D.C. requires caregivers to obtain a home health aide certification, which involves 75 hours of training.

Decide what type of caregiving you want to do

You can choose to get certified to provide a specific type of care, which can help you get better jobs. Below are a few groups of people you can get specialized training to care for:

• Elderly adults
• Adults with physical or cognitive impairments
• Children with disabilities
• Veterans
• Individuals with Alzheimer’s or dementia
• Individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDDs)
• Residents of long-term care facilities

Thomson told us that the type of care work people decide to do is often influenced by an experience of caring for a family member or friend.

If you decide to specialize, be aware that certain roles involving healthcare knowledge may require you to have a nursing degree, so be sure to check the education requirements before starting to train for a particular type of role.

Enroll in a caregiving certification program

Many states have a list of approved programs and courses you can enroll in to get certified as a caregiver. It’s a good idea to check your state’s recommended training to make sure your certification will be recognized by potential employers.

A safe bet is to sign up for a certification course offered by the American Caregiver Association (ACA), such as their National Caregiver Certification Course or Advanced National Caregiver Certification Course.

While all caregiving jobs share certain duties and responsibilities, you have a choice to make in terms of who you work for and how you get paid.

1. Get paid to be a family caregiver

If you have a family member who requires professional care, the good news is that you can get paid to be their caregiver. This could be an aging parent you already live with, a child with a disability, or a family member living on their own or in a special residence facility who already has a caregiver whose role you want to take over.

Below are several options that may allow you to receive payment for caring for a family member:

• Medicaid consumer-directed personal assistance programs: If your family member receives Medicaid coverage, you may be able to get paid for caring for them. However, it depends on the particular rules and regulations in your state. Contact your state’s Medicaid office to confirm your eligibility.
• Veteran Directed Care: This provides funding for veterans to use to hire a caregiver, who can be a family member.
• VA Aid and Attendance or Housebound benefits: Funding available for VA pension holders who have a permanent disability and need to hire a caregiver.
• Long-term care insurance: If your family member has a long-term care insurance policy, it may cover the cost of hiring you as a caregiver. Check the insurance policy’s terms to confirm.
• Administration on Aging benefits: Some states have special programs that will compensate you for caring for an aging family member. To find out your eligibility and compensation options, contact your local Area Agency on Aging.
• Employee benefits: Check whether your employer offers any elderly care benefits or programs as part of your compensation package. This isn’t an especially common job perk, but it is offered by some big companies, like Bank of America.

A staggering 89% of caregivers for adults provide care to a family member. Although most family caregivers are unpaid, the benefits listed above can help relieve the financial burden of caring for a sick or elderly family member.

Thomson noted that caring for family members is a common way for people to get into the care profession. “Many people decide to pursue paid caregiving when they have discovered in a personal setting that they have an innate skill and interest in caring,” she said.

Donna speaks on the importance of family caregiver funding

“Sometimes intensive family care needs make working outside the home impossible for the primary caregiver. In these cases, it is especially important to seek sources of funding to enable the caregiver and the care recipient to remain together, at home.”

2. Apply to work at an assisted living facility

As a caregiver at an assisted living facility, you can receive traditional employment benefits, such as stable working hours, vacation days, health insurance, and retirement compensation.

You can get a full-time position if you plan to get into caregiving as a career, but if you’re more interested in taking on the role as a side job or side hustle, you can apply for a part-time or temporary position.

You can find openings for these jobs posted on regular job boards, such as Indeed. You’ll need to submit an application, and you may be required to undergo a background check and/or health check to prove your suitability for the role.

3. Join a caregiving agency

Working for an agency is a popular choice for first-time caregivers. A caregiving agency will provide you with basic employee benefits like health insurance and vacation days. It also offers certain benefits to care receivers, such as liability insurance and theft protection.

If you get your first caregiving job at an agency, they may provide on-the-job training and educational resources to help you acquire the knowledge required to start your career. They’ll also assign you individual jobs and manage your schedule for you so you don’t have to find your own clients.

You can find an agency caregiving job on local job boards, or you can search for agencies in your area and apply directly through their websites. These jobs often have a high turnover rate, which means there’s usually a good chance of finding an open position.

4. Advertise your services as an independent caregiver

An independent caregiver is one who’s self-employed or runs their own caregiving business rather than working for an agency or facility. To get a job as an independent carer, you need to apply for jobs directly with the individual requiring care or their family members.

People in this role are sometimes also known as personal care attendants, direct support professionals (when caring for people with intellectual or developmental disabilities), home care workers, or personal assistants.

There are two different types of services you can provide as an independent carer:

• Virtual caregiving: Also known as online caregivers, virtual caregivers work remotely. In this role, you won’t do any physical work—instead, you’ll provide emotional and psychological support by contacting and communicating with the care receiver digitally.
• In-home caregiving: Provide assistance to individuals at their place of residence. You can work as a live-in carer or make scheduled visits to the care receiver.

The main benefits of working as an independent care worker are the flexibility to choose where and when you work and a potentially higher rate of pay.

However, there’s also more commitment and more responsibility. For instance, when you’re an individual’s sole caregiver, there’s no one to fill in for you if you’re late or can’t make it to work.

Other types of work for independent caregivers

Aside from providing direct care, there are other types of freelance work that caregivers can do. For example, you could be a caregiver navigator or coach, either virtually or in person.

According to Thomson, this is a role where an experienced caregiver assists other caregivers to “problem-solve, navigate complex systems, and embed self-care practices into their lives.” For example, they might give caregivers advice on equipment to use and how to get help from hospital and home care staff. However, you need a decent amount of caregiving experience before you can do this type of work.

Thanks to her extensive caregiving experience, Thomson says she’s also been able to get work teaching caregiving at a university (online), offering consultancy services for developers of digital tools used by carers, and facilitating caregiver support groups online.

She described the role of an online community facilitator for caregivers as “offering emotional and social support as well as health and social service navigation” and “offering strategies to ease the burden of care and forge helpful connections in the neighborhood.” She recommends this type of work to problem solvers who love getting to know people locally.

Caregiving can be an incredibly rewarding job. You’re providing a valuable service to the members of society who are most in need of it. One of the job’s major advantages is that just about anyone can be a caregiver, and there are very few barriers to entry.

With that said, it is tough work. You may have to work long hours and at times perform tasks that are physically and even emotionally exhausting.

Thomson described how it can take a physical toll when you’re caring for a family member. “I think the most physically exhausting aspect of care work is sleep deprivation and lifting,” she said. Lifting can cause injury and and pain, which can make the job even more tiring.

Does caregiving pay well?

Caregiving is not a particularly high-paying job. A national study found that 18% of home care workers live below the national poverty line. In 2018, caregivers had an inflation-adjusted median hourly wage of $11.52 and an annual income of just $16,200.

With that said, the mean average wage reported by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) in May 2022 for home health and personal care aids was $14.87 per hour, with typical hourly salaries ranging from $10.82 to $18.44. These rates show that your earnings can vary in this field.

Ultimately, whether working as a caregiver is a good job for you depends on your qualifications, career goals, and personality.