• Occupation Overview
• Future Growth Opportunities
• Job Description

II. Job Requirements/Prerequisites:

• Skill Requirements
• Experience Prerequisites
• Education/Training Required

• Bay Area Education/Training Resources

IV. Getting A Job:

• Employers Who Are/Will Be Hiring
• Recommended Job Search Strategy

V. Back To Career Guide Home Page

Skill Requirements

Intellectual - basic

• Responsible, consistent, and able to meet commitments.

• Good judgment, knows when additional assistance is required.

Intellectual - specialized

• Able to understand medication and care procedures.

Social

• Good communication skills, able to make people feel at ease.

• Must be able to treat people who are ill with kindness and respect, regardless of the amount of pain the patient is in, or the patient's mood.

Physical

• Able to lift patients out of bed.

• Able to perform household tasks such as cooking and laundry.

• Must have valid California driver license and access to a vehicle (or alternate means of transportation) to travel from site to site.

Skill Maintenance Requirement

Moderate. In order to keep your certificate current, you must spend 48 hours in training every two years. This can take the form of one 3-unit class, or free training that is often provided at healthcare facilities for its employees.

Experience Prerequisites

None.

Education/Training Required

While a High School diploma is typically not necessary, a Home Health Aide (HHA) Certificate is. And one must typically earn a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) Certificate prior to the HHA Certificate. Red Cross delivers the final exams for these certificates on many campuses.

To obtain a complete list of training providers for Home Health Aides in California, refer to the State Training Inventory (STI) website:

• Go to http://sti.soicc.ca.gov/sti/mainmenu.html

• Select "Occupational Titles" o Select "Service Occupations"

• Select "Home Health Aide" in the Training Program column

The above website will provide a list of the relevant training providers along with their addresses and telephone numbers.

The next section in this career guide ("Bay Area Education/Training Resources") provides detailed information on some of these training programs.