Home Health Aide Certification

140 hours/Instructor Supported/Textbooks

Overview

A Home Health Aide (HHA) may also be known as a Home Caregiver or Residential Assistant (RA). An HHA provides basic, personal care and health-related services to a variety of individuals (patients) who require more assistance than family and/or friends are able to provide. HHAs are part of a category of occupations that is commonly referred to as direct care workers. The services/care that a Home Health Aide provides depends upon their specialty area.

If you've ever thought about becoming a home health aide, our in-depth curriculum could help you learn important fundamental, practical skills involved in a career as a home health aide. For each patient, an HHA is responsible for recording services performed, as well as the patient's condition and progress. They also record and report any changes in a patient's condition to the case manager or supervisor and also discuss observations with them.

The types of patients with whom a Home Health Aide may work include:

·         the elderly

·         physically disabled

·         terminally ill

·         convalescent persons

·         hospice patients

·         individuals with long-term illness

·         adults with mental disabilities (e.g., Alzheimer's disease)

·         children with mental illness

Textbooks included with course:

• Mosby's Textbook for the Home Care Aide by Joan Birchenall and Eileen Streight
• Dorland's Pocket Medical Dictionary, 27th Edition -- Book and CD-ROM by Dorlarnd

Outline

Home Health Aide Module 1
Orientation to Home Care

• Learning About Home Care
• The Home Care Industry
• Developing Effective Communication Skills
• Understanding Your Client's Needs
• Understanding How the Body Works
• Observing, Reporting, and Recording
• Working With the Ill and Disabled

Home Health Aide Module 2
Managing the Home Environment

• Maintaining a Safe Environment
• Maintaining a Healthy Environment
• Meeting the Client's Nutritional Needs

Home Health Aide Module 3
Home Care Procedures - Part 1

• Preventing Infection/Medical Asepsis
• Body Mechanics
• Bedmaking
• Personal Care

Home Health Aide Module 4
Home Care Procedures - Part 2

• Elimination
• Collecting Specimens
• Measuring Vital Signs
• Special Procedures

Home Health Aide Module 5
Meeting the Client's Special Needs

• Caring for Older Adults
• Caring for Mothers, Infants and Children
• Caring for Clients With Mental Illness
• Caring for Clients With Illnesses Requiring Home Care
• Caring for the Dying Client
• Emergencies
• Getting a Job and Keeping It

CERTIFICATION FROM:

National Association for Home Care and Hospice (NAHC)

Average Time of Completion: 4-6 months; Maximum Time to Completion: 1 Year

Instructor: Tricia Seymour, Ph.D.

She is a licensed professional counselor and counseling supervisor living in St. Petersburg, FL. She has received a Master degree in Marriage and Family Therapy and a Doctorate in Counseling Psychology.  She has worked with numerous universities and corporations creating online courses and training. She has created or assisted in creating hundreds of online courses.

Dr. Seymour has been in private practice since 1990 working with individuals, couples, and families. During her early years in private practice she assisted in the creation of an inpatient treatment program for Dissociative Identity Disorder(DID). She specialized in working with clients diagnosed with DID &/or Post Traumatic Stress Disorders (PTSD).

She is an adjunct faculty member at Park University teaching online in psychology, sociology and religion. She has been a training consultant to various agencies and organizations globally. She has created and presented corporate training in all 50 U.S. states and numerous foreign countries. She has taught soft skills topics such as Dealing with Stress, Interpersonal Skills, Dealing with Difficult People, Business Skills, Organizational Skills, and Other Personal Growth & Psychological Topics.

Instructor: Rusty Barrier Ph.D

Dr. Rusty Barrier holds a Ph.D. in counseling psychology, has been in private practice for 20 years, and is the co-author of Awaken to Oneness.

He has worked with thousands of people throughout the world,  in both private and psychiatric settings. His career began at Christi Center for Attitudinal Healing, in Corpus Christi, Texas where he served as the Executive Director. He was instrumental in founding the Corpus Christi Mayor's Commission on AIDS and The Passage AIDS hospice in Corpus Christi. He has presented lectures and workshops around the world on various healing techniques and spirituality. He currently resides in Saint Petersburg, Florida where he has his private practice.

Computer Requirements

Internet Access

·         Broadband or high-speed internet access is strongly recommended. Broadband includes DSL, cable, and wireless connections.

·         Dial-Up internet connections will result in a diminished online experience. Moodle pages may load slowly and viewing large audio and video files may not be possible.

Hardware

·         Virtually all Windows-Mac-Linux hardware configurations and processors are acceptable.

·         1 GB RAM recommended

Software

·         Operating Systems

§  Windows XP or Vista and Mac OS X 10 and higher, most Linux distributions

·         Web Browsers

§  Mozilla Firefox 2 and 3 (previous versions will work also)

§  Internet Explorer 6, 7 and 8

§  Safari is not currently recommended as it cannot display certain Moodle editing menus for both students and instructors

Media Plug-ins (These may be required depending on your course media-click on the links below to download the latest versions)

§  Adobe Flash Player

§  Adobe Acrobat Reader

§  Apple Quicktime

§  Windows Media Player

§  Real Player

§  PowerPoint Viewer (use this if you don't have PowerPoint)