Animal assisted therapist to healthcare assistant
An animal assisted therapist already meets 24% of what the healthcare assistant role asks for. The move turns on 24 required skills not yet in the profile.
80.3/ 100
1 How much of what a healthcare assistant is expected to do is already part of an animal assisted therapist’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the healthcare assistant role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A healthcare assistant role treats 8 of its required skills as things an animal assisted therapist already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- apply organisational techniques
- contribute to continuity of health care
- deal with emergency care situations
- develop a collaborative therapeutic relationship
- interact with healthcare users
- listen actively
What stands in the way is 24 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 10 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A healthcare assistant role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of an animal assisted therapist background worth leading with.
- already held use foreign languages for health-related research communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held develop a collaborative therapeutic relationship communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held respond to changing situations in health care management skills
- already held deal with emergency care situations assisting and caring
- already held use foreign languages in patient care communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held contribute to continuity of health care assisting and caring
All 10 carried skills, including the 8 the healthcare assistant role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 36 missing skills fall into 8 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.
- still to learn convey medical routine information required
- still to learn accept own accountability required
- still to learn advise on healthcare users' informed consent required
- still to learn work in multidisciplinary health teams required
- still to learn work with nursing staff required
- still to learn communicate with nursing staff required
- still to learn educate on the prevention of illness required
- still to learn inform policy makers on health-related challenges required
- still to learn support nurses required
- still to learn work in a multicultural environment in health care required
- still to learn work under supervision in care required
- optional, not held communicate in foreign languages with health service providers optional
- still to learn comply with quality standards related to healthcare practice required
- still to learn ensure safety of healthcare users required
- still to learn provide basic support to patients required
- still to learn adhere to organisational guidelines required
- still to learn comply with legislation related to health care required
- still to learn empathise with the healthcare user required
- still to learn follow clinical guidelines required
- still to learn promote inclusion required
- optional, not held assist in the administration of medication to elderly optional
- optional, not held distribute meals to patients optional
- optional, not held support individuals to adjust to physical disability optional
- still to learn monitor basic patients signs required
- still to learn identify abnormalities required
- still to learn manage healthcare users' data required
- still to learn use e-health and mobile health technologies required
- still to learn have computer literacy required
- optional, not held disability care optional
- optional, not held disability types optional
- optional, not held geriatrics optional
- optional, not held older adults' needs optional
- optional, not held sterilization techniques optional
- optional, not held perform cleaning duties optional
2 further areas in the appendix
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries a healthcare assistant role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 convey medical routine information practise this
- 02 accept own accountability practise this
- 03 advise on healthcare users' informed consent practise this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 10 skills that carry over
- already held apply organisational techniques skill
- already held contribute to continuity of health care skill
- already held deal with emergency care situations skill
- already held develop a collaborative therapeutic relationship skill
- already held interact with healthcare users skill
- already held listen actively skill
- already held provide health education skill
- already held respond to changing situations in health care skill
- already held use foreign languages for health-related research skill
- already held use foreign languages in patient care skill
The 2 learning areas not shown above
- optional, not held evaluate older adults' ability to take care of themselves optional
- optional, not held use technical equipment for sterilisation optional
12 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held assist in the administration of medication to elderly optional
- optional, not held disability care optional
- optional, not held distribute meals to patients optional
- optional, not held support individuals to adjust to physical disability optional
- optional, not held communicate in foreign languages with health service providers optional
- optional, not held disability types optional
- optional, not held evaluate older adults' ability to take care of themselves optional
- optional, not held geriatrics optional
- optional, not held older adults' needs optional
- optional, not held perform cleaning duties optional
- optional, not held sterilization techniques optional
- optional, not held use technical equipment for sterilisation optional
20 held skills the healthcare assistant role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role animal behaviour knowledge
- not needed by the target role animal therapy knowledge
- not needed by the target role assess the patient's therapeutic needs skill
- not needed by the target role assistive instruments knowledge
- not needed by the target role behavioural therapy knowledge
- not needed by the target role control animal movement skill
- not needed by the target role evaluation of psychological performance knowledge
- not needed by the target role handle patient trauma skill
- not needed by the target role human psychological development knowledge
- not needed by the target role instruct animals for therapy purposes skill
- not needed by the target role maintain healthcare user data confidentiality skill
- not needed by the target role palliative care knowledge
- not needed by the target role performance diagnosis knowledge
- not needed by the target role promote animal welfare skill
- not needed by the target role recruit animal handlers skill
- not needed by the target role refer healthcare users skill
- not needed by the target role select therapy animals skill
- not needed by the target role sociology knowledge
- not needed by the target role use communication techniques skill
- not needed by the target role work with healthcare users' social network skill
5 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- optional, not held disability care optional
- optional, not held disability types optional
- optional, not held geriatrics optional
- optional, not held older adults' needs optional
- optional, not held sterilization techniques optional
Common questions about this move
Can an animal assisted therapist become a healthcare assistant?
Yes, and it is a career change move. An animal assisted therapist already covers 24% of what a healthcare assistant is expected to do: 10 skills carry over, 8 of which the healthcare assistant role treats as required.
What skills does an animal assisted therapist need to become a healthcare assistant?
24 required skills are missing, plus 12 optional ones. They fall into 8 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by communication, collaboration and creativity. The single most important is convey medical routine information.
How hard is the move from animal assisted therapist to healthcare assistant?
Its learning distance is 80.3 out of 100, which is the career change band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
How this record was compiled
Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.