What Are The Duties And Responsibilities Of A Disability Support Worker?
Disability support workers are skilled professionals whose job is to help make life more accessible for their clients so that they can conduct as many tasks as possible and as independently as possible. Disability support worker duties include helping seniors and people with disabilities do a variety of daily tasks. These include helping with personal hygiene, getting around, shopping, making food, doing housework, and organising social events.
A big part of this job is making sure the person has company and friends, as well as giving them emotional support. Disability support workers may come to their client’s homes often or even move in with them.
Skills & Qualities of a Good Disability Support Worker
Aside from completing disability support courses through certification or diploma classes, disability support workers must also possess these traits to ensure success in their field:
1. Patience
It’s not always easy working with seniors and people who have disabilities because they sometimes have different ways of thinking than other people do. It takes patience to learn how to deal with these differences effectively so you can help them achieve their goals.
2. Communication Skills
You’ll be working with people with different needs. This means that you will need to listen carefully 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 with everything.
4. Empathy
Disability support workers also provide emotional support to their clients. They counsel their clients on managing their time and finances since many people with disabilities have limited or no income at all. 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, including the need to gain more knowledge and skills to improve their practice.
Disability Support Worker Key Duties & Responsibilities
As far as the cliché goes, with great power comes great responsibility, and this is especially true for disability support workers. In this highly accountable role, clients have many different needs, and knowing what is expected is essential.
Here are the main disability support worker tasks:
- 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 role they undertake. As their name suggests, they perform an important 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?