Companion to home care aide
A companion already meets 43% of what the home care aide role asks for. The move turns on 13 required skills not yet in the profile.
63.9/ 100
1 How much of what a home care aide is expected to do is already part of a companion’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 home care aide role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A home care aide role treats 10 of its required skills as things a companion already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- accompany people
- assist clients with special needs
- buy groceries
- iron textiles
- keep company
- make the beds
What stands in the way is 13 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 21 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A home care aide role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a companion background worth leading with.
- already held keep company assisting and caring
- already held accompany people assisting and caring
- already held make the beds handling and moving
- already held wash the laundry handling and moving
- already held support individuals to adjust to physical disability assisting and caring
- already held buy groceries communication, collaboration and creativity
All 21 carried skills, including the 10 the home care aide role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 29 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 assist disable passengers required
- still to learn tend to elderly people required
- still to learn apply first response required
- still to learn assist social service users with physical disabilities required
- still to learn provide in-home support for disabled individuals required
- optional, not held promote prevention of social isolation optional
- optional, not held assist individuals with disabilities in community activities optional
- optional, not held prepare dietary meals optional
- optional, not held work ergonomically optional
- still to learn disability care required
- still to learn first response required
- still to learn disability types required
- still to learn older adults' needs required
- optional, not held food allergies optional
- optional, not held hearing disability optional
- optional, not held mobility disability optional
- optional, not held visual disability optional
- still to learn wash the dishes required
- optional, not held clean household linens optional
- optional, not held vacuum surfaces optional
- optional, not held handle linen in stock optional
- optional, not held lift heavy weights optional
- still to learn support social service users to live at home required
- optional, not held promote healthy lifestyle optional
- optional, not held advise on healthy lifestyles optional
- still to learn monitor patient's health condition required
- optional, not held prevent domestic accidents optional
- optional, not held assess risks for the elderly optional
- still to learn evaluate older adults' ability to take care of themselves required
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries a home care aide role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 assist disable passengers practise this
- 02 disability care study this
- 03 first response study this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 21 skills that carry over
- already held accompany people skill
- already held assist clients with special needs skill
- already held buy groceries skill
- already held iron textiles skill
- already held keep company skill
- already held make the beds skill
- already held prepare ready-made dishes skill
- already held prepare sandwiches skill
- already held support individuals to adjust to physical disability skill
- already held wash the laundry skill
- already held administer appointments skill
- already held clean rooms skill
- already held clean surfaces skill
- already held communicate with customers skill
- already held feed pets skill
- already held listen actively skill
- already held provide dog walking services skill
- already held provide first aid skill
- already held remove dust skill
- already held use cooking techniques skill
- already held use food preparation techniques skill
16 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held prevent domestic accidents optional
- optional, not held promote prevention of social isolation optional
- optional, not held assess risks for the elderly optional
- optional, not held assist individuals with disabilities in community activities optional
- optional, not held clean household linens optional
- optional, not held food allergies optional
- optional, not held prepare dietary meals optional
- optional, not held promote healthy lifestyle optional
- optional, not held vacuum surfaces optional
- optional, not held advise on healthy lifestyles optional
- optional, not held handle linen in stock optional
- optional, not held hearing disability optional
- optional, not held lift heavy weights optional
- optional, not held mobility disability optional
- optional, not held visual disability optional
- optional, not held work ergonomically optional
7 held skills the home care aide role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role drive vehicles skill
- not needed by the target role empathise with the healthcare user skill
- not needed by the target role give advice on personal matters skill
- not needed by the target role relate empathetically skill
- not needed by the target role support nurses skill
- not needed by the target role use gardening equipment skill
- not needed by the target role wash vehicles skill
8 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 disability care required
- still to learn first response required
- still to learn disability types required
- still to learn older adults' needs required
- optional, not held food allergies optional
- optional, not held hearing disability optional
- optional, not held mobility disability optional
- optional, not held visual disability optional
Common questions about this move
Can a companion become a home care aide?
Yes, and it is a substantial move. A companion already covers 43% of what a home care aide is expected to do: 21 skills carry over, 10 of which the home care aide role treats as required.
What skills does a companion need to become a home care aide?
13 required skills are missing, plus 16 optional ones. They fall into 6 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by assisting and caring. The single most important is assist disable passengers.
How hard is the move from companion to home care aide?
Its learning distance is 63.9 out of 100, which is the substantial 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.