The Best In-home Care for the Elderly Jobs in Charlottesville, VA
Written by:
Jeffrey Grossman
Published:
July 12th, 2021
There’s currently an in-home caregiver shortage, and many jobs taking care of seniors at home are available in Charlottesville, VA, and all over the country.
Do you have a passion for taking care of others? Are you a compassionate, hard-working individual? Have you thought about looking into in-home care for the elderly jobs? Caregiving is a rewarding and fulfilling career that can offer flexible hours and generous pay. As a caregiver, you’ll enter the home of elderly adults, spend time with them, and assist them with daily life tasks. Not only will you help aging seniors, but you’ll also provide peace of mind to their adult children and family caregivers.If you're interested in jobs taking care of the elderly at home, this article is a great place to start. We’re sharing everything you need to know about jobs working with elderly home care companies.Keep reading to learn why caregiver jobs are comparable to CNA jobs in Charlottesville, VA, and how to apply to be a caregiver today.
Why Choose Jobs to Help the Elderly at Home
There are three reasons why you should choose jobs taking care of seniors at home:
You have the desire to be a caregiver
It’s a fulfilling and rewarding job
There’s always “help wanted” in elderly care
Let’s take some time to look at these three points more closely.
1. Desire to Be a Caregiver
First and foremost, you need to have a passion for caregiving. Caregiving isn’t always an easy profession, and some days or weeks may seem very long. There might be times that you have to work with a needy client or someone with a severe medical condition. It takes the right kind of person with compassion, patience, and high emotional intelligence to be a good caregiver (more on caregiver qualities later). If you don’t have these qualities, it doesn’t mean you can’t be a caregiver—you can always grow and learn new skills.However, caregiving is a profession that requires dedication to your roles, responsibilities, and clients to ensure you deliver the best care possible.
2. Caregiving is Rewarding and Fulfilling
Though caregiving can be challenging, it’s also a gratifying and fulfilling career. Elderly adults have a strong desire to age at home. But often, general issues associated with age or medical diagnoses can hinder them from living independently. A decline in physical ability or health can cause an aging adult’s family members to consider moving them into a nursing home or other senior living facility.As a caregiver, you provide the necessary care an aging adult needs to stay and live at home. Caregivers have the opportunity to provide the quality of life that elderly seniors long for.Not only are you assisting the elderly, but you’re also helping their family members. Because caregivers take over the burden of caregiving, family members don’t have to worry about their aging loved ones as frequently.
3. There’s a Huge Need for Caregivers
Lastly, a caregiving career provides job security and stability. There’s currently a large amount of help wanted in elderly care. Across the country, there is a massive demand for those who will care for aging adults at home—and the need for caregivers will continue to rise through 2030. As the population of adults aged 65 and older grows, more home care professionals will be needed.Now that you know the “why” behind becoming a caregiver, we’ll share the typical job description of an in-home caregiver.
What Does an In-home Caregiver Do?
In-home caregivers enter an elderly adult’s home to assist with daily life tasks.Sometimes aging seniors simply need companionship and help with small tasks, like:
Light housekeeping and laundry
Meal preparation
Driving them to/from appointments/events
Bill pay
Other elderly adults may have more limitations and need hands-on help with tasks such as:
Bathing and grooming
Incontinence support
Transfers and ambulation
Feeding
Ultimately, your job is to provide the highest level of care possible to your client each time you’re with them.We’ve talked about the “why” and “what” of caregiving, now let’s look at how to become a caregiver.
Requirements and Qualities of In-home Caregivers
The list of requirements to become a caregiver isn’t extensive, but there are a few you should know. Likewise, there isn’t an exhaustive list of caregiver qualities, but some are necessary for a successful caregiving career.We’ll start by sharing the requirements to become a caregiver, followed by caregiver qualities.
Caregiver Requirements
Most people searching for “cna jobs charlottesville va” or “caregiver training courses”, don’t realize that prior experience or certifications aren’t necessary to start a career in caregiving.The only requirements you need to meet to fill out a caregiver application are:
Be 18 or older
Hold a valid driver’s license
Pass a drug screening and background check
If you check these three boxes, then you’re on your way to applying for jobs taking care of seniors at home.The next steps to becoming a caregiver simply involve:
Applying for open caregiver positions
Completing the company’s in-house training
You can’t always control getting an interview, but you can control how many jobs you apply for. If you know you want to start a career in caregiving, you can look up home care companies in your area and begin applying to their open positions.
Caregiver Qualities
Apart from physical requirements, there are also some qualities that all good caregivers need. Often, it’s these traits that home care companies care most about.Here are four of the essential traits good caregivers possess.
Patience
Those who work with the elderly should be able to exercise patience. Many older adults have a slower pace of moving, speaking, and sometimes processing. It's important to be able to work at that pace without showing annoyance.
Empathy
Caregivers should have empathy when working with the elderly. This population is often lonely, depressed, or in pain. Showing empathy to these people and their medical needs builds trust and care in the caregiving relationship.
Respect
Along with patience and empathy, you should be respectful. The elderly population can often feel dismissed and belittled. Good caregivers make it a point to show kindness, decency, and respect to the elderly adults they serve.
Optimism
Lastly, anyone working with in-home care for the elderly jobs should be optimistic. Often, aging seniors may be experiencing a challenging or transitional period of their lives that significantly affects their health. Staying optimistic and providing them with a constant, daily, sunny disposition can improve their physical and mental health. Although these are important traits, having all of them isn’t required to fill out an application and become a caregiver. There’s always room to improve and learn new skills.If you’re interested in applying to one of the best caregiver companies in Charlottesville, VA, keep reading.
Apply to Jobs Taking Care of Seniors at Home Today
Elderly adults want to age in the comfort of their own homes. Yet, many seniors have limitations that keep them from living independently. One of the best solutions is in-home caregivers.Caregivers enter aging adults’ homes to provide the hands-on assistance they need to continue aging in place. While some seniors need a small amount of help, others require more tangible assistance. A caregiver’s primary role is to ensure a high quality of life for their client.You don’t need any prior experience or certifications to apply for a caregiver position. Though, most caregivers do possess such qualities as:
Patience
Empathy
Respect
Optimism
If you feel fulfilled by caring for others, you may want to consider in-home care for the elderly jobs. Rewarding, fulfilling, and in high demand, these jobs can make a world of difference in someone's life. At Commonwise Home Care in Charlottesville, VA, we’re currently looking to hire new caregivers. We pride ourselves on providing the highest quality care to seniors in and around the Charlottesville area, and our caregivers are the main reason we can do that. Because our caregivers are so valuable to our success, we make sure to care for them well through:
Generous pay
Flexible schedule
Ongoing training and support
Apply online today to come work for us and see why our caregiver career opportunities are better than other CNA jobs in Charlottesville, VA.