U1/309 Hay street, East Perth,
WA 6004 Australia
The job of taking care of the elders is a unique one, as the caregiver not only earns a livelihood but also performs a social and humane service. However, like all other sectors, this one also requires qualified and experienced persons who are adept in their respective jobs. Usually, the Aged Care Courses are qualified according to the role the candidate is interested in.
Like any other course of other subjects, the selection of a course is dependent on the candidate and their prior experiences. In all cases, the question remains the same. Which would be the applicable course? How much time should be invested? What is the training required? So, the choice of aged care certificate will have to be done according to the need of the student. According to available statistics, the number of people aged 65 years and over has increased by 125,400. Therefore, the demand for people with training in these sectors will be much appreciated.
The career in aged-care will be started from the Certificate III in Individual Support. This is considered the stepping stone of this particular field. The students are trained to look after the physical aspects and well-being of the patients, along with the care of their mental state and emotional well-being. In addition to all these, the students are taught to work in a team, learning to document, strategize, and implement treatment schedules. They are subjected to work in a community or residential scenario to know the actual breadth of their work, and this practical feature of their training makes up for their initial venture into the world of aged care. The position they can apply for usually is in the area of a personal care assistant.
After the initial entry and work experience of a personal caregiver, the individual may require to improve their career situation and in turn, learn to accept more responsibility. In this situation, the Certificate 4 in Aged Care is the qualification to achieve. The training and skills imparted in this training module prepare the candidate to work in a managerial or leadership role, along with providing a vaster service regimen and greater responsibility in providing holistic and wide-ranging treatment to the senior people. The certificate holders can also work in the disabled aged-care sector, or in a separate community or a residential scenario. They become experts in liaising with the different clients, solving complex problems, and assisting in the maintenance of their medicine schedule.
The training and certifications open the doors of the industry to the candidates; however, the skills and dedication of them towards their job makes for their career graph. For this reason, it is better to learn the practical aspects of each training modules and certification courses, before you join in the actual industrial scenario. Incidentally, the demand and opening for positions in the aged-care industry is growing; according to the Australian government, there will be an opening of 179,000 jobs in the next five years. So, the certifications should be achieved to keep the climbing path clear, but excellence and expertise in practical skills will be a mandatory factor.
The aged-care sector is not a very money-rich option; the candidate must have compassion and a deep sense of duty in their line of work. Often, they can skip some intermediate modules if they have prior experience. Therefore, for the provisional candidates, it is better to set a target about the position they would like to achieve in this position and work gradually towards it.