WHAT DOES A HOME HEALTH AIDE DO?

Published: Jul 22, 2025 - The Home Health Aide assists with personal care, mobility, medication reminders, and meal preparation based on the patient’s needs. This role supports daily living through housekeeping, errands, and safe home maintenance while monitoring basic vital signs. The aide also accompanies clients to appointments, guides families in care techniques, and participates in ongoing training and agency meetings.

A Review of Professional Skills and Functions for Home Health Aide

1. Home Health Aide Duties

  • Personal Care: Personal grooming to include giving showers, tub or sponge baths, shampooing hair, assisting with dressing, providing incontinence care, medication reminders, wheelchair transportation, and transferring residents with guidance and training.
  • Homemaking Services: Provide homemaking services as required, making the bed, washing dishes, tidying the apartment, organizing closets and dresser drawers, laundering of clothing and bedding, ironing, grocery shopping, and meal preparations.
  • Health Assistance: Provide additional home health assistance.
  • Documentation Skills: Documentation on the daily report sheets, services provided to the resident.
  • Reporting: Daily reports are to be completed and returned at the end of each shift.
  • Training Attendance: Attends all required training, in-service, and staff meetings.
  • Safety Awareness: Strives to maintain a safe working environment through the prevention of accidents, the preservation of equipment, and the achievement of safe working practices.
  • Professionalism: Maintains a positive and professional demeanor toward residents, visitors, families, and co-workers.
  • Policy Compliance: Adheres to all policies and procedures of Senior Lifestyle Corporation.

2. Home Health Aide Details

  • Care Plan Development: Assist in the development of the plan of care for assigned patients.
  • Care Plan Review: Review the patient’s Plan of Care before providing any care at each visit.
  • Infection Control: Apply principles of infection control in all care.
  • Plan Compliance: Provide all care as directed by the Plan of Care.
  • Care Restriction: Restrict care to only that directed by the Plan of Care.
  • Condition Reporting: Communicate any changes in the patient’s condition to the RN or Therapist.
  • Timely Documentation: Documentation is completed and submitted promptly as defined by PVNA policy.
  • Documentation Accuracy: Complete and accurate, and has been turned in per PVNA policy.
  • Care Coordination: Communication and coordination of care with team members.
  • Data Security: Comply with the PVNA “Securing Patient Data During Offsite Patient Care” policy and keep passwords private.
  • Device Security: Lock devices when not in use to prevent unauthorized viewing.
  • Data Loss Reporting: Immediately notifies a manager of any loss of patient data.
  • Security Training: Participate in annual “patient information security” training.

3. Home Health Aide Responsibilities

  • Home Support: Enables clients to stay in their homes by monitoring and recording patient condition, providing support and personal services, and teaching families.
  • Shift Flexibility: Filling a variety of shifts to accommodate the personal needs of the caregiver.
  • Condition Monitoring: Monitors client condition by observing physical and mental condition, intake and output, and exercise.
  • Housekeeping Assistance: Supports clients by providing light housekeeping and laundry services, shopping for food and other household requirements, preparing and serving meals and snacks, and running errands.
  • Personal Care: Assists clients by assisting with personal services, such as bathing, dressing, and grooming.
  • Self-Care Teaching: Helps clients care for themselves by teaching the use of a cane or walker, special utensils to eat, special techniques, and equipment for personal hygiene.
  • Nutrition Guidance: Advises on nutrition, cleanliness, and housekeeping.
  • Information Recording: Records client information by making entries in the patient journal and notifying the nursing supervisor of changing or unusual conditions.

4. Home Health Aide Job Summary

  • Care Plan Adherence: Perform patient care duties and tasks as outlined on the patient-specific home health or hospice care plan.
  • Technical Skills: Perform basic technical skills, including CPR, taking and recording vital signs, changing non-sterile dressings, measuring and recording fluid intake and output, and assisting the patient with taking oral medications.
  • Personal Care: Assist patient with personal care including bathing, mouth and skin care, grooming and dressing, assistance with bed pans or urinals, eating, and hydration.
  • Mobility Assistance: Help patients walk, exercise, and move in and out of bed.
  • Equipment Support: Assist with the use of special equipment such as a walker, wheelchair, or cane.
  • Meal Preparation: Assist with meal preparations and feeding, change bed linen, and perform light housekeeping when outlined in the patient’s care plan.
  • Clinical Documentation: Provide accurate, legible, and timely clinical documentation in compliance with regulatory, quality, and agency guidelines.
  • Condition Response: Take prompt action in response to changes in the patient’s health condition and notify the registered nurse, therapist, case manager, or Patient Care Manager promptly.
  • Population Care: Provide services to a generally adult patient or caregiver population and, depending on area of clinical specialty, skills, and training, may also provide services to a pediatric population.
  • Team Communication: Communicate with patients, caregivers, RN or therapist case manager, Patient Care Manager, and other members of the inter or multidisciplinary team to assure appropriate, quality, and smooth flow of care and services for the patient through the care continuum.
  • Record Keeping: Incorporation into the home care or hospice record provides accurate, legible, and timely clinical documentation in compliance with regulatory, quality, and agency guidelines.

5. Home Health Aide Accountabilities

  • Assignment Acceptance: Consistently and reliably accepts patient assignments.
  • Availability Commitment: Make available on designated work days.
  • Policy Compliance: Follows all policies and procedures of LHC Group and the agency, as well as all applicable federal, state, and local requirements.
  • Confidentiality Compliance: Understands and complies with HIPAA and any other confidentiality obligations.
  • Work Documentation: Accurate and timely documentation of hours worked.
  • Service Documentation: Accurate and timely documentation of services performed.
  • Condition Monitoring: Monitors patient condition by observing physical and mental condition and exercise.
  • Observation Reporting: Accurate and timely reporting of observations of the patient's condition to the appropriate supervisor, including immediate notification of any incidents, accidents, or unusual conditions.
  • Visit Verification: Effective utilization of the Electronic Visit Verification or other visit documentation program.
  • Daily Living Assistance: Competent provision of and/or assistance with activities of daily living as applicable, including bathing, dental care, nail care (filing only), skin care, including peri care, and lotion application.
  • Safe Transfer: Safe transfer of the patient from bed to chair and wheelchair.
  • Toileting Assistance: Safe transfer of patients on and off the bedpan and/or toilet.
  • Activity Documentation: Documents all client-related activities promptly.

6. Home Health Aide Functions

  • Bedtime Assistance: Assists patient with bedtime preparations, including personal care, dressing, positioning, and medication reminders.
  • Housekeeping Support: Supports patients by providing housekeeping and laundry services, shopping for food and other household requirements, preparing and serving meals and snacks, and running errands.
  • Ambulation Assistance: Assists with ambulation, including with a cane, walker, or crutches if appropriate, and helps patients care for themselves.
  • Appointment Escort: Accompanies the client to medical appointments.
  • Vital Monitoring: Measures and records oral, rectal, and auxiliary temperatures, pulse and respiration, and blood pressure within the training limitations.
  • Meal Preparation: Prepares meals as required based upon the patient's preferred or prescribed diet and assists with feeding.
  • Environmental Safety: Provides a clean and safe environment within the home, including safe use of equipment needed by the patient.
  • Professional Response: Responds promptly and professionally.
  • Family Education: Helps family members care for the patient by teaching appropriate ways to lift, turn, and reposition the patient, cleanliness, and housekeeping.
  • Meeting Participation: Participates in required agency meetings and in-service presentations.
  • Job Knowledge Update: Updates job knowledge by participating in educational opportunities.

7. Home Health Aide Job Description

  • Personal Care: Provides personal care services, including bathing, shampooing, dressing, grooming, feeding, weighing, skin and nail care, oral hygiene, and shaving.
  • Transfer Assistance: Assisting with transfers, ambulation, and the prevention of falls.
  • Catheter Care: Cleaning the perineal areas around a urinary catheter.
  • Vital Signs: Obtaining vital signs, including temperature, blood pressure, pulse, and respiration.
  • Safety Maintenance: Maintaining a safe environment.
  • Therapy Support: Performs simple procedures as an extension of nursing and/or rehabilitation therapy services under the direction and supervision of the RN or therapist.
  • Exercise Assistance: Performs range of motion exercises and assists with exercises.
  • Household Services: Performs household services essential and integral to health care at home, including meal preparation and feeding, light laundry, and housekeeping, such as dishes.
  • Medication Assistance: Assists with medications and other delegated nursing tasks under the direction and supervision of the RN, per state nurse practice laws and agency policy.

8. Home Health Aide Overview

  • Condition Reporting: Report any observed or reported changes in the client’s condition and/or needs to the RN.
  • Emotional Support: Provides emotional support.
  • Care Documentation: Completes the appropriate records to document care given and pertinent observations at the time care is provided.
  • Safety Promotion: Promotes personal safety and a safe environment for clients by observing infection control practices, following agency guidelines, and reporting unsafe situations to the RN and/or rehab therapist.
  • Education Notification: Notifies the supervisor of educational needs.
  • Team Communication: Communicates effectively with all members of the interdisciplinary team through verbal reports, participation in staff meetings, and team conferences.
  • Data Privacy: Maintains confidentiality and data privacy in all aspects of the job.
  • Training Participation: Participates in required training and education programs to ensure compliance with licensing requirements and regulations.

9. Home Health Aide Details and Accountabilities

  • Direct Care: Participates in direct patient care and other supportive personal care assistance to patients in homes as outlined by the patient’s plan of care.
  • Customer Service: Actively participates in outstanding customer service and accepts responsibility for maintaining relationships that are equally respectful to all.
  • Personal Care: Assists patients with personal care needs such as bathing, feeding, personal hygiene, elimination needs, dressing and undressing, changing linens, turning, and repositioning, as essential to the patient’s health, according to the individualized care plan.
  • Vital Signs: Measures and records the patient’s temperature, pulse, respiration, and blood pressure as directed by the plan of care.
  • Condition Observation: Observes the patient’s physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual conditions and reports any changes to the nurse case manager or supervising therapist promptly.
  • Motion Assistance: Assists the patient with Passive Range of Motion (PROM) and per the plan of care.
  • Care Documentation: Documents services provided in a timely and accurate manner by agency policy and personal care plan.
  • PHI Compliance: Abides by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability privacy and security regulations regarding all aspects of Protected Health Information (PHI).
  • Population Service: Serves a population from newborn through geriatric.

10. Home Health Aide Additional Details

  • Work Commitment: Work the days and hours necessary to perform all assigned responsibilities and tasks.
  • Availability: Make available, especially during regular business hours or shifts, to communicate with supervisors, customers, vendors, and any other person or organization with whom interaction is required to accomplish work and employer goals.
  • Punctuality: Be responsible for being punctual and timely in meeting all requirements of performance, including attendance standards and work deadlines, beginning and ending assignments on time, and scheduled work breaks.
  • Professional Relationships: Maintain courteous, professional, and effective working relationships with employees at all levels of the organization.
  • External Relations: Develop and maintain courteous and effective working relationships with clients, vendors, and any other representatives of external organizations.
  • Response Responsibility: Assume responsibility for providing timely, appropriate responses to requests, suggestions, or complaints, or refer such comments to the appropriate person.
  • Referral Follow-up: Referring requests, suggestions, or complaints to another individual, the employee must follow up in writing to the individual and maintain an accessible copy of the referral, or follow company guidelines.
  • Clear Communication: Communicate information and state problems or challenges to be resolved in a clear, concise, courteous, nondiscriminatory, and professional manner, and be able to provide clarification.
  • Respectful Behavior: Respect for the opinions of others and behave in such a way as to ensure an atmosphere free of needless interruptions, difficulty, or discrimination.
  • Feedback Exchange: Receive and provide clear, constructive feedback regarding work performance to or from individuals or groups, and be able to clarify.
  • Change Management: Handle in a constructive, non-disruptive manner the multiple business, organizational, and interpersonal changes or stresses that may exist in the employee's work, work processes, dealings with other personnel, and supervision.
  • Adaptability: Sufficiently adaptable to accept and perform in a timely and effective manner work assignments that are outside the normal day-to-day routine.
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