Get Your Caregiver Certification Online & Learn Skills for ADLs
As a caregiver, you’re likely helping with ADLs, or activities of daily living, without even realizing it. But what are ADLs? ADLs are important skills that a person has to take care of themselves independently. For example:
- Using the toilet
- Eating
- Getting dressed
- Moving around their environment
- Bathing
- Taking medication
- Brushing teeth
When someone has trouble doing ADLs (or parts of them), they need help in some way. This is where you come in! It’s important for caregivers to learn how to help their patient or care recipient with ADLs.
In this blog post, we’ll review 5 critical skills for helping your care recipient or patient with ADLs and why learning them through an online caregiver certification training program can benefit you.
Whether you’re a family caregiver, home health aide, personal care aide, or another healthcare professional, everyone can benefit from continuing education and professional development. Interested in learning more about Trualta’s caregiver certification and other caregiver training programs? Check if you have free access.
5 ADL Skills From Online Caregiver Certification
Caregiver certification courses provide training to caregivers on a variety of health and care topics. Certain states, home care organizations, and other professions may have different caregiver training requirements. However, most informal and professional caregiving roles involve ADLs in some way. Whether you’re helping a patient with running errands or helping a parent with bathing, you’re helping with ADLs! Let’s jump into the 5 ADL skills you’ll learn by getting your caregiver certification online.
1. Learn Basic Skills
It’s a good idea to learn how to help with a wide range of ADL tasks, even if your care recipient doesn’t need help with them all yet. It’s an opportunity to boost your skills. It can also help if your client has a condition that causes their abilities to change over time. For example, dementia or Parkinson’s disease.
A caregiver training course can help you learn essential skills for helping with different ADL tasks. The tasks you help with can depend on your state and profession. In general, here are some examples of tasks you might learn:
- Step-by-step instructions for helping with personal care tasks. For example, shaving someone else’s face.
- Assisting with transfers. For example, helping someone get from their wheelchair into a car.
- Helping with medications and avoiding mistakes. For example, keeping pills organized and taking them on time.
- Running errands. For example, going grocery shopping or picking up a package at the post office.
- Driving your care recipient to appointments. For example, a doctor’s visit or haircut.
Remember: every person has a different level of independence with ADL tasks. For example, one person may only need you to squeeze toothpaste onto the brush, while another patient may need you to do all parts of toothbrushing for them. You, your care recipient, and the healthcare team can work together to figure out how much help works best.
2. Safe Mobility & Transfers
Whether you’re a home health aide, home care aide, or any other caregiver, not knowing how to properly help with mobility and transfers puts you at risk for injury and permanent disability. Studies show that there are high rates of injuries among home care workers–especially when lifting or repositioning their patients and care recipients. Some states have “no-lift” policies and have professional caregivers use assistive technologies to help with moving their patients.
If your profession or caregiving role requires you to lift, move, or assist your care recipient with their mobility, training can help. You can learn the proper body mechanics and movements to keep yourself and your care recipient safe. Step-by-step instructions and videos can help you know what you need to do.
3. Protect Yourself From Illness
As a direct care worker, you might come into contact with blood and other bodily fluids that could make you sick. Your care recipient might also have an illness or disease that you could get if you’re not careful. Home care aide training can help you learn how to protect yourself while helping with ADL tasks, as well as teach you basic first aid training.
4. Be Person-Centered
Person-centered care can be hard to define. Most often, it means providing individualized care that sees the person, not their medical condition. It recognizes the need to provide care while also preserving the care recipient’s dignity, preferences, and values. The goal of providing person-centered care is to enhance quality of life and quality of care.
A caregiver training course can help you learn how to provide person-centered care. There are a number of ways to do this. For example:
- Help them navigate barriers to performing ADL tasks. For example, make dressing easier by using a long-handled reacher to pull pants up.
- Let the person participate in tasks as much as they can safely (or want to). For example, if it’s no longer safe for them to use the stove, let them stir together ingredients for dinner instead.
- Help them find ways to do meaningful activities. For example, if they love gardening but can no longer kneel down, sit them at an outdoor table to pot plants.
5. Provide Trauma-Informed Care
Helping with ADL tasks can feel personal and uncomfortable for some care recipients or patients. Some personal care tasks can make them feel vulnerable or embarrassed, like toileting or getting dressed. This can be even harder for them if they’ve experienced trauma in the past.
Practicing trauma-informed care is an essential part of good caregiving. It encourages care providers like home health aides and other caregivers to use certain principles to guide their care. This helps their care recipients feel safe and avoids triggering or re-traumatizing them. Trauma-informed care practices may even help your care recipient stick to treatments and improve health outcomes.
Taking a caregiver course can help you learn important trauma-informed caregiving skills that help your care recipient feel safe and support your caregiving relationship with them.
Why Is Online Training A Good Option?
There are many benefits to an online home care aide training certification. You’ll get quality, up-to-date education that works with your busy caregiving schedule. With an online course, you can also learn from anywhere–whether you’re sitting in a doctor’s office waiting room or at your kitchen table. It’s also a much more convenient and inexpensive option to gain caregiving skills.
Are you ready to boost your caregiving skills and maximize your potential? We’re here to help you become the best caregiver you can be with online caregiver training. New caregivers and experienced caregivers alike will benefit.
