What is a Care Worker?
Care workers support people in all aspects of daily life. This can include social and physical activities, personal care, light domestic duties and meal times. You may also see them called Healthcare Assistants or Community Care Workers depending on the employer or care setting. Each employer will have unique job descriptions for their own care staff which reflect the needs of their clients. You could be working in residential, respite or nursing accommodation, or in a person’s own home.
As a Care Worker, you can choose to focus your skills to become a specialist in a particular area, for example:
- working with people with dementia
- providing end of life care
- caring for the elderly
- supporting people with learning and/or physical disabilities
- becoming an advocacy worker
You will work with professionals from other health and care teams to make sure the people you look after have access to the most appropriate care. As you become more experienced and specialist in certain areas, you may also have additional responsibilities developing policies and procedures within your organisation.
Roles delivering direct care, like Care and Support Workers, make up nearly 75% of the adult social care workforce in Cornwall. This type of role provides a good foundation for you to progress into various leadership or management positions, or undertake additional qualifications to move into regulated roles like nursing, occupational therapy or social work.
