Learn It
Live It
Share ItThe Home Care Role
in the Academy
🏡 Welcome, Caregiver!
Ethics, client rights, privacy and dignity. This module is about 8 classroom-equivalent hours across the video lesson, this eBook and practice.
By the end you can
- Explain what a home care aide does and does not do
- Describe client rights, privacy and respect for property
- Know how to report suspected abuse, neglect or exploitation
🪙 You earn LEARN It coins as you turn the pages, and a chapter badge when you reach each section.
The Home Care Role
What a home care aide does
You help people live safely at home: personal care, moving around, meals, light housekeeping and companionship. You watch for changes and report them. You work under a care plan and a supervisor, often a registered nurse.
What you do not do
You do not diagnose, change the care plan, give medical advice or do tasks you were not trained and assigned to do. Medicine help is limited: follow your state's rules and your agency's care plan.
Client rights
Clients have the right to be treated with respect, to make their own choices, to refuse care, to privacy, to have their property respected and to voice complaints without fear. If a client refuses care, do not force it. Tell your supervisor.
The Home Care Role continued
Privacy and HIPAA
Health information is private. Share it only with people on the care team who need it. Do not post about clients, take photos of them, or talk about them in public. That includes on your own phone.
Abuse, neglect and exploitation
Watch for unexplained bruises, fear of a person, missing money or medicine, or a client left without food or care. Report concerns to your supervisor right away and follow your state's reporting law. In Arizona, that includes Adult Protective Services. If someone is in danger now, call 911.
Words Caregivers Use
The written plan that lists a client's tasks, goals and things to watch for. Aides follow it.
The tasks your role is trained and allowed to do under state rules and agency policy.
Protections every client has, including respect, privacy, choice and the right to refuse care.
A worker who must report suspected abuse, neglect or exploitation under state law.
Mrs. Alvarez and the missing cash
Mrs. Alvarez, 82, tells you her grandson "borrows" money from her purse and she is now short on money for groceries. She asks you not to tell anyone.
Your care steps
- Listen calmly and thank her for telling you
- Explain kindly that you must share safety concerns with your supervisor
- Write down what she said in her own words, with the date and time
- Report to your supervisor the same day
- Follow your agency's steps for an Adult Protective Services report
In the Qwest, the steps are shuffled. Put them in the safest order to earn your LIVE It coins.
Keep caring: The Home Care Role
The rest of this eBook — the scenario, practice check, skills lab list, care log and answer key.
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- Insist, because it is on the care plan
- Respect the choice, offer another time and tell your supervisor
- Skip it and say nothing
- Ask a family member to make them
- Telling your supervisor about a new rash
- Posting a photo of your client online
- Writing a note in the care record
- Calling 911 in an emergency
- Change it if it seems right
- Look it up online
- Tell them you cannot, and report the request to your supervisor
- Ask a neighbor
- Ignore it
- Report it to your supervisor and follow your state's reporting law
- Ask the family to explain
- Post about it online
- The aide
- The client's neighbor
- The nurse or care team
- Anyone in the home
Answers are on page 11. In the Qwest this is the Boss Quiz — score 80% to earn the station badge.
Keep caring: The Home Care Role
The rest of this eBook — the scenario, practice check, skills lab list, care log and answer key.
Get this eBook · $9.99All 10 eBooks + Ambassador membership · $49Home Care learners and Ambassadors: this series is included.Sign in to unlockModule 1 Skills Lab
No hands-on skills check for this module
Knowledge-only module. Your partner program may review client rights during orientation.
Hands-on skills and competency checks are completed in person with an approved partner program. Reading this eBook does not make you competent in a skill. Aides follow the care plan and the supervising nurse. For medicines, follow your state's rules and your agency's care plan.
Keep caring: The Home Care Role
The rest of this eBook — the scenario, practice check, skills lab list, care log and answer key.
Get this eBook · $9.99All 10 eBooks + Ambassador membership · $49Home Care learners and Ambassadors: this series is included.Sign in to unlockTeach It Forward
The fastest way to master a skill is to teach it. Your Share It challenge:
- Tell one person the five client rights you learned, in your own words.
- Use teach-back: ask them to tell or show you the idea in their own words.
- Post what you learned (no client names or photos) in your group or the Share It Studio to earn SHARE It coins.
Keep caring: The Home Care Role
The rest of this eBook — the scenario, practice check, skills lab list, care log and answer key.
Get this eBook · $9.99All 10 eBooks + Ambassador membership · $49Home Care learners and Ambassadors: this series is included.Sign in to unlockSee It, Say It, Write It
Use this log to practice objective notes during lab or role-play. In a real job, use your agency's record system only. Never write client names here.
| Date / time | What I saw or measured | What the client said | Who I told | Instructions given |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Report changes the same day. Call 911 first in an emergency.
Keep caring: The Home Care Role
The rest of this eBook — the scenario, practice check, skills lab list, care log and answer key.
Get this eBook · $9.99All 10 eBooks + Ambassador membership · $49Home Care learners and Ambassadors: this series is included.Sign in to unlockAnswer Key
- B. Respect the choice, offer another time and tell your supervisor — Clients may refuse care. Respect it, try again later and report it.
- B. Posting a photo of your client online — Never post or photograph clients. Share information only with the care team.
- C. Tell them you cannot, and report the request to your supervisor — Aides never change medicine. Follow state rules and the care plan, and tell the nurse.
- B. Report it to your supervisor and follow your state's reporting law — Report suspected abuse. You do not need proof to report.
- C. The nurse or care team — The nurse or care team owns the plan. Aides follow it and report.
Source: Home Care & Digital Caregiving, Force for Health Academy (2026). Mapped to 42 CFR 484.80 and AHCCCS Direct Care Worker Principles of Caregiving. Rules differ by state and agency: always follow your state's rules, your agency's policies and the client's care plan.
Keep caring: The Home Care Role
The rest of this eBook — the scenario, practice check, skills lab list, care log and answer key.
Get this eBook · $9.99All 10 eBooks + Ambassador membership · $49Home Care learners and Ambassadors: this series is included.Sign in to unlock10 modules. One connected caregiver.
Each eBook pairs with a video lesson in the Force for Health Academy. Hands-on skills and competency checks are completed in person with an approved partner program.
theforce.health/home-care-pathway · FFH Virtual LibraryKeep caring: The Home Care Role
The rest of this eBook — the scenario, practice check, skills lab list, care log and answer key.
Get this eBook · $9.99All 10 eBooks + Ambassador membership · $49Home Care learners and Ambassadors: this series is included.Sign in to unlock