Home Health Aides
Monitor the health status of an individual with disabilities or illness, and address their health-related needs, such as changing bandages, dressing wounds, or administering medication. Work is performed under the direction of offsite or intermittent onsite licensed nursing staff. Provide assistance with routine healthcare tasks or activities of daily living, such as feeding, bathing, toileting, or ambulation. May also help with tasks such as preparing meals, doing light housekeeping, and doing laundry depending on the patient's abilities.
Most important skills
- Service Orientation
- Active Listening
- Social Perceptiveness
- Reading Comprehension
- Monitoring
- Time Management
- Speaking
- Critical Thinking
Key knowledge
- Psychology
- Customer and Personal Service
- Medicine and Dentistry
- English Language
- Public Safety and Security
- Therapy and Counseling
- Production and Processing
- Sociology and Anthropology
What the work involves
- Maintain records of patient care, condition, progress, or problems to report and discuss observations with supervisor or case manager.
- Provide patients with help moving in and out of beds, baths, wheelchairs, or automobiles and with dressing and grooming.
- Provide patients and families with emotional support and instruction in areas such as caring for infants, preparing healthy meals, living independently, or adapting to disability or illness.
- Entertain, converse with, or read aloud to patients to keep them mentally healthy and alert.
- Plan, purchase, prepare, or serve meals to patients or other family members, according to prescribed diets.
- Direct patients in simple prescribed exercises or in the use of braces or artificial limbs.
- Check patients' pulse, temperature, and respiration.
- Perform a variety of duties as requested by client, such as obtaining household supplies or running errands.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Social, Realistic, Conventional.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- Post-Secondary Certificate (31.8% of expert ratings)
- Related experience
- Over 6 months, up to and including 1 year (28.1%)
- On-the-job training
- Anything beyond short demonstration, up to and including 1 month (70.9%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 2: Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Home Health Aides is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
- Projection education uses SOC 31-1120 (aggregate); it may describe a broader group.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | Moderate | Lower on contact with others than 55% of occupations compared | 79% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | Moderate | Lower on dealing with the public than 58% of occupations compared | — |
| Teamwork | Low | Lower on teamwork than 71% of occupations compared | — |
| Freedom to make decisions | Very low | Lower on freedom to make decisions than 99% of occupations compared | — |
| Time pressure | Very low | Lower on time pressure than 94% of occupations compared | — |
| Conflict situations | Moderate | Lower on conflict situations than 53% of occupations compared | — |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Very high | Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 94% of occupations compared | 46% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Consequence of error | Moderate | Lower on consequence of error than 57% of occupations compared | — |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: very low
- Conflict situations: moderate
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: very high
- Consequence of error: moderate
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 14.9%
- Occasional contact with others: 0%
- Contact with others about half the time: 1.91%
- Contact with others most of the time: 3.82%
- Constant contact with others: 79.37%
n = 15, Incumbent 08/2026
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 9.94%
- Fairly important: 0%
- Important: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Very important: 12.83%
- Extremely important: 13.96%
n = 15, Incumbent 08/2026
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 3.82%
- Fairly important: 8.03%
- Important: 14.9%
- Very important: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Extremely important: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 15, Incumbent 08/2026
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 12.83%
- Very little freedom: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Limited freedom: 26.84%
- Some freedom: 23.85%
- A lot of freedom: 4.77%
n = 15, Incumbent 08/2026
Time pressure
- Never: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Once a year or more but not every month: 2.03%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 22.93%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 20.95%
- Every day: 22.38%
n = 15, Incumbent 08/2026
Conflict situations
- Never: 18.72%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 23.81%
- Once a month or more but not every week: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Once a week or more but not every day: 14.86%
- Every day: 12.81%
n = 15, Incumbent 08/2026
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 19.67%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 3.82%
- Once a week or more but not every day: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Every day: 45.95%
n = 15, Incumbent 08/2026
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Fairly serious: 18.84%
- Serious: 5.73%
- Very serious: 15.7%
- Extremely serious: 27.07%
n = 15, Incumbent 08/2026
Is this career right for me? Find jobs with conditions you prefer
Where people with this background could move
- Analyze
Occupational Therapy Aides
Closeness 92/100 · job zone +1
- Analyze
Teaching Assistants, Preschool, Elementary, Middle, and Secondary School, Except Special Education
Closeness 90/100 · job zone +1
- Analyze
Occupational Therapy Assistants
Closeness 90/100 · job zone +1
- Analyze
Athletes and Sports Competitors
Closeness 90/100
- Analyze
Ambulance Drivers and Attendants, Except Emergency Medical Technicians
Closeness 90/100
- Analyze
Adapted Physical Education Specialists
Closeness 90/100 · job zone +2
Find more alternativesCompare skills with another job
O*NET-SOC 31-1121.00 · SOC 31-1120 (aggregate, low confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8