"My clients are like my own family."

• Where are the job opportunities in direct care?
• Where do direct care workers provide care?

Where are the job opportunities in direct care?

There are many types of direct care workers. The titles vary depending on the amount of training required and the duties of the job. Here are some common titles for direct care workers:

Home care aide. Home care aides provide a range of basic services in the home, including help with bathing, dressing and grooming. Some may help with home management tasks such as grocery shopping and preparing meals. Many home care agencies will only hire aides who are listed on the state's Nurse Aide Registry. To be listed, a person must pass a state competency test. Usually, candidates for this job undergo a competency evaluation after successfully completing state-approved nurse-aide training.

Home health aide. Home health aides provide a range of services in the home, from basic tasks to more advanced ones, such as tube feeding or changing a dressing. Home health aides must be listed on the state's Nurse Aide Registry, which requires passing a state competency test. Usually, candidates for this job undergo a competency evaluation after successfully completing state-approved nurse-aide training.

Hospice worker. Hospice workers provide terminally ill patients with services that range from companionship to personal care. Hospice workers almost always must be listed on the state's Nurse Aide Registry, which requires passing a state competency test. Usually, candidates for this job undergo a competency evaluation after successfully completing state-approved nurse-aide training.

Nurse/nursing aide. Nurse aides, commonly called CNAs (certified nursing assistants), provide care under the supervision of a registered nurse. The State requires that people working as nurse aides be listed on the Nurse Aide Registry. To be listed, a person must pass a state competency test. Usually, candidates for this job undergo a competency evaluation after successfully completing state-approved nurse-aide training. Nursing aides are the largest category of direct care workers.

Personal attendant. Personal attendants assist people with basic tasks such as bathing, dressing, grooming and eating.

Respite care worker. Respite care workers provide care and companionship to people with a disability or health condition to ease the burden of family members who usually provide those services. Depending on the tasks performed and the employer, respite care workers may have to be listed on the state's Nurse Aide Registry, which requires passage of a state competency test. Usually, candidates for this job undergo a competency evaluation after successfully completing state-approved nurse-aide training.

Where do direct care workers provide care?

Direct care workers provide care in many different places. They can work in someone's home or in a large nursing home. They can work in group homes where just a few people live or in larger buildings where many people gather for daily activities. In addition to people's private homes, here are some of the many other places in which direct care workers provide care:

Adult care home. An assisted living residence that provides 24-hour scheduled and unscheduled personal care services to two or more residents.

Assisted living residence. Any group housing and services program for two or more unrelated adults providing at least one meal a day, housekeeping and personal care services.

Family care home. An adult care home having two to six residents.

Group home for developmentally disabled adults. An adult care home with two to nine adult residents with developmental disabilities.

Nursing home. A facility that provides nursing or convalescent care to three or more residents.

Continuing Care Retirement Community. Also known as a continuing care facility or life-care community, this retirement option offers a range of housing levels, from independent living accommodations to either adult care home or nursing home levels of care - sometimes both - within the same community setting.

Supervised group living home. A home environment that provides 24-hour residential services primarily for the care, habilitation or rehabilitation of people with a mental illness, developmental disability or substance abuse disorder.