Becoming a home-care worker: role, training, salary and prospects

Home-care workers enable elderly, ill or disabled people to keep living in their own homes. They help with everyday tasks, and they are often the person these people see most: a presence, someone who listens, a link with the outside world. With an ageing population, it is one of the jobs that recruits most in France. For a psychology student, it is also very formative field experience, open from the first years of study. This profile is part of our guide to careers in psychology.

What does a home-care worker do?

The job

The home-care worker (also called personal care assistant) works in the homes of people who need help with everyday activities. The aim is not to do things for the person, but to help them remain as independent as possible, respecting their habits, privacy and choices.

Who they support

• Elderly people gradually losing their autonomy.
• People with disabilities, children or adults.
• People who are ill or convalescing after a hospital stay.
• Families going through a difficult period (a birth, a parent’s illness).

What are the duties of a home-care worker?

• Help with daily tasks: getting up, simple washing, dressing, meals, getting around.
• Look after the home: cleaning, laundry, shopping, preparing meals.
• Stimulate and accompany: conversation, walks, activities, help with simple paperwork.
• Observe and alert: notice a change of mood, loss of appetite or isolation, and inform the service or the family.

Medical care (dressings, injections, administering complex treatments) is not part of the job: it is the remit of nurses and care assistants.

Skills and qualities of a home-care worker

The job requires patience, discretion, strong listening skills and a lot of autonomy, since home-care workers usually work alone. You also need to set limits, respect the person’s pace and handle emotionally difficult situations: loneliness, decline, sometimes the end of life.

What psychology brings

Knowledge of the psychology of ageing and disability helps understand the reactions of the person being supported: refusing help, irritability, memory problems, depression. It helps adapt the way you communicate and spot signs of psychological distress earlier.

Training to become a home-care worker

No diploma is required to work in this job, which makes it a frequent entry point into the social sector. Employers do, however, prefer trained candidates:

• the ADVF vocational title (family life assistant), at vocational level, awarded by the French Ministry of Labour;
• the state diploma of social and educational support worker (DEAES), see our profile social and educational support worker;
• the validation of prior experience (VAE), after one year of work.

A formative student job

Many psychology students work as home-care workers a few hours a week. The hours are often compatible with studying, and the experience counts in a master’s or placement application. In ESPÉ’s Bachelor in Psychology, volunteering and first field experiences are part of the course from the first year.

Salary and working conditions of a home-care worker

The starting salary is close to the French hourly minimum wage, and depends heavily on the number of hours worked: many posts are part-time. The home-care sector’s collective agreement provides for Sunday and public holiday supplements and covers travel costs. Working days are split into several visits, to several people.

Career prospects for a home-care worker

After a few years, a home-care worker can prepare the DEAES, become a care assistant or a family and social intervention technician, or a sector coordinator in a home-care service. They can also return to study for social work careers, such as specialised educator.

Why become a home-care worker?

It is a job of relationships and immediate usefulness: thanks to the home-care worker, a person can keep living at home. It recruits all over France and offers a first concrete contact with frailty, ageing and disability, valuable experience for anyone considering a career in psychology or social work.