What Are The Duties And Responsibilities Of A Disability Support Worker?
Disability support workers are skilled professionals who help make life more accessible for their clients, allowing them to complete essential daily tasks as independently as possible.
Disability support worker duties include helping seniors and people with disabilities to perform personal hygiene tasks, prepare meals, do their shopping and housework, and organise social events.
In addition to physical support, the role of support worker involves providing clients with social and emotional help, making sure they interact with others. While some visit their clients in their homes to provide support, many reside with them permanently.
Qualities of a Good Disability Support Worker
Aside from completing further education courses to obtain the necessary certifications, there are several disability support worker skills necessary to ensure success in this field:
1. Patience
It’s not always easy working with seniors and people who have disabilities, who can quickly become frustrated at needing help. It takes patience to learn how to deal with each client effectively to help them achieve their goals as independently as possible.
2. Communication Skills
You’ll be working with people with different needs. This means that you will need to listen with care when people talk. You should also be able to communicate clearly so that your clients can understand what you want them to do.
3. Good Organisational Skills
There will be paperwork involved in this line of work. You may have many different tasks to perform each day, and they all need to get done on time. That’s why you must be organised to ensure everything gets done for your client.
4. Empathy
Disability support workers provide emotional support to their clients as well as physical support. They counsel their clients on managing their time and finances since many people with disabilities have limited or no income. They may work with a client’s family members to help them understand their needs and goals to offer appropriate assistance.
5. Passion for Continuous Learning
Disability support workers must have a passion and commitment to ongoing learning, as gaining more knowledge and skills to continue improving may be necessary.
Disability Support Worker Key Responsibilities
The role of support worker is no easy one, and this is especially true for disability support workers. In this highly accountable role, where clients have many different needs depending on their type of disability, it is essential to understand and cater for those needs to ensure optimum care.
Here are the main disability support worker duties:
- Monitoring the client’s physical and mental health by doing routine checks, such as administering prescriptions, measuring blood pressure, and assisting with personal cleanliness.
- Providing a safe environment for the client by monitoring their surroundings for potential dangers such as fire hazards and tripping hazards.
- Providing assistance and support to disabled people in their homes or other places so they can live independently
- Assisting people in carrying out essential daily tasks such as dressing, bathing, grooming, tooth brushing, medicine administration, restroom use, etc.
- Assisting clients with tasks of daily living, including cooking, cleaning, shopping, managing finances, etc.
- Collaboration with other healthcare providers to coordinate clients’ care plans
- Providing a diverse range of social activities such as arts & crafts, games, and outings for clients who can’t go outside
- Giving emotional and social support
- Identifying needs and developing plans for improving the quality of life for those suffering from disabilities or mental health issues
How to become a disability support worker
If you love working with people and have an empathetic nature, helping others learn to adapt to life with a disability, then you will likely enjoy working as a disability support worker. The duties and responsibilities of a disability support worker are varied, depending on the client and their needs. As the name suggests, they perform an essential role in supporting disabled individuals or their support groups, such as family or carers, by providing emotional and practical assistance.
If you’re interested in becoming a disability support worker, Insight Training provides comprehensive Disability Support Courses. Start your career in disability care with us by contacting us here.
Empower lives. Become a Disability Support Worker today!
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What Are The Duties And Responsibilities Of A Disability Support Worker?