Community health worker to family support worker
A community health worker already meets 25% of what the family support worker role asks for. The move turns on 46 required skills not yet in the profile.
83.6/ 100
1 How much of what a family support worker is expected to do is already part of a community health worker’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 family support worker role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A family support worker role treats 16 of its required skills as things a community health worker already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- advocate for social service users
- apply decision making within social work
- apply quality standards in social services
- assess social service users' situation
- assist families in crisis situations
- assist individuals with disabilities in community activities
What stands in the way is 46 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 16 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A family support worker role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a community health worker background worth leading with.
- already held assist families in crisis situations assisting and caring
- already held assist individuals with disabilities in community activities assisting and caring
- already held apply decision making within social work management skills
- already held review social service plan information skills
- already held advocate for social service users communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held provide social counselling assisting and caring
All 16 carried skills, including the 16 the family support worker role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 51 missing skills fall into 6 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 apply person-centred care required
- still to learn assist social service users in formulating complaints required
- still to learn contribute to protecting individuals from harm required
- still to learn encourage social service users to preserve their independence in their daily activities required
- still to learn follow health and safety precautions in social care practices required
- still to learn meet standards of practice in social services required
- still to learn prevent social problems required
- still to learn protect vulnerable social service users required
- still to learn refer service users to community resources required
- still to learn support service users in developing skills required
- still to learn support service users to use technological aids required
- still to learn support social service users with specific communication needs required
- still to learn adhere to organisational guidelines required
- still to learn apply socially just working principles required
- still to learn assist social service users with physical disabilities required
- still to learn comply with legislation in social services required
- still to learn maintain privacy of service users required
- still to learn promote inclusion required
- still to learn support harmed social service users required
- optional, not held support children's wellbeing optional
- still to learn accept own accountability required
- still to learn apply problem solving in social service required
- still to learn conduct interview in social service required
- still to learn promote service users' rights required
- still to learn support social service users' positiveness required
- still to learn communicate professionally with colleagues in other fields required
- still to learn listen actively required
- still to learn maintain the trust of service users required
- still to learn report on social development required
- still to learn support social service users in skills management required
- still to learn support social service users to manage their financial affairs required
- still to learn work in a multicultural environment in health care required
- optional, not held promote the safeguarding of young people optional
- optional, not held support the positiveness of youths optional
- still to learn demonstrate leadership in social service cases required
- still to learn tolerate stress required
- still to learn apply organisational techniques required
- still to learn involve service users and carers in care planning required
- still to learn manage stress in the work place required
- still to learn work within communities required
- optional, not held assess the development of youth optional
- still to learn apply holistic approach within social services required
- still to learn monitor service users' health required
- still to learn undertake risk assessment of social service users required
- still to learn undertake continuous professional development in social work required
- still to learn company policies required
- still to learn customer service required
- still to learn family law required
- still to learn social justice required
- still to learn social sciences required
- optional, not held adolescent psychological development optional
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries a family support worker role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 accept own accountability practise this
- 02 apply holistic approach within social services practise this
- 03 apply person-centred care 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 16 skills that carry over
- already held advocate for social service users skill
- already held apply decision making within social work skill
- already held apply quality standards in social services skill
- already held assess social service users' situation skill
- already held assist families in crisis situations skill
- already held assist individuals with disabilities in community activities skill
- already held build helping relationship with social service users skill
- already held communicate with social service users skill
- already held deliver social services in diverse cultural communities skill
- already held legal requirements in the social sector knowledge
- already held maintain records of work with service users skill
- already held manage social crisis skill
- already held promote social change skill
- already held provide social counselling skill
- already held relate empathetically skill
- already held review social service plan skill
5 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held assess the development of youth optional
- optional, not held adolescent psychological development optional
- optional, not held promote the safeguarding of young people optional
- optional, not held support children's wellbeing optional
- optional, not held support the positiveness of youths optional
17 held skills the family support worker role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role address public health issues skill
- not needed by the target role advise on mental health skill
- not needed by the target role advise on pregnancy skill
- not needed by the target role apply knowledge of human behaviour skill
- not needed by the target role assess clients' drug and alcohol addictions skill
- not needed by the target role build community relations skill
- not needed by the target role community education knowledge
- not needed by the target role contribute to continuity of health care skill
- not needed by the target role contribute to public health campaigns skill
- not needed by the target role deliver group sessions on nutrition skill
- not needed by the target role empower social service users skill
- not needed by the target role identify the health benefits of nutritional changes skill
- not needed by the target role inform on the risks of substance and alcohol abuse skill
- not needed by the target role manage health promotion activities skill
- not needed by the target role perform health assessment autonomously skill
- not needed by the target role promote health and safety policies in health services skill
- not needed by the target role support individuals on nutrition changes skill
6 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- still to learn company policies required
- still to learn customer service required
- still to learn family law required
- still to learn social justice required
- still to learn social sciences required
- optional, not held adolescent psychological development optional
Common questions about this move
Can a community health worker become a family support worker?
Yes, and it is a career change move. A community health worker already covers 25% of what a family support worker is expected to do: 16 skills carry over, 16 of which the family support worker role treats as required.
What skills does a community health worker need to become a family support worker?
46 required skills are missing, plus 5 optional ones. They fall into 6 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by assisting and caring. The single most important is accept own accountability.
How hard is the move from community health worker to family support worker?
Its learning distance is 83.6 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.