Certificate in Home Support/Resident Care Attendant
ObjectivesThe 24-week, Home Support/Resident Care Attendant (HS/RCA)program will prepare you as a frontline care provider in long term care facilities and a variety of community settings. As you work through the program’s curriculum and your clinical placements, you’ll acquire the skills, knowledge and values you’ll need to provide professional care to the elderly and those facing other health or illness challenges. Focusing on the elderly, you’ll learn how to provide care that promotes and maintains the physical, psychological and social well-being of the clients you’ll care for in your subsequent role as a Home Support and Resident Care Attendant.
Academic titleCertificate in Home Support/Resident Care Attendant
Course descriptionCourses
HSRC 151 Health and Healing
HSRC 155 Work Role
HSRC 161 Personal Care Skills
HSRC 162 Advanced Personal Care Skills
HSRC 164 Community Experience
HSRC 165 Clinical Placement 1
HSRC 166 Clinical Placement 2
HSRC 170 Interpersonal Communications
HSRC 175 Mental Health Issues: Aging
HSRC 180 Lifestyle and Choices
HSRC 151 Health and Healing
(5 credits) F, W (100 hours total)
Students will examine concepts and principles related to caring, human needs, human development, structure and function of the body, health and healing and common health challenges. Caregiver practices that promote client/resident and family well-being will be examined, including the home management skill required for home support practice.
HSRC 155 Work Role
(1 credit) F, W (25 hours total)
This course provides an introduction to resident care and home support practice and looks at the roles of the Resident Care Attendant and Home Support Attendant within the Canadian health care system.
HSRC 161 Personal Care Skills
(2 credits) F, W (50 hours total)
This practical course offers participants the opportunity to acquire personal care skills aimed at maintaining and promoting comfort, safety and independence of older adults in continuing care settings and in their homes. Students are provided with the opportunity to practice the application of theory and skills in supervised laboratory settings.
HSRC 162 Advanced Personal Care Skills
(2 credits) F, W (50 hours total)
This practical course builds on skills learned in HSRC 161 and offers participants the opportunity to acquire advanced personal care skills aimed at maintaining and promoting comfort, safety and independence of older adults in continuing care settings and in their homes. Students are provided with the opportunity to practice the application of theory and skills in supervised laboratory settings.
Prerequisite(s): HSRC 161.
HSRC 164 Community Experience
(1.5 credits) F, W (40 hours total)
In this course, students develop an awareness of community support systems that promote and maintain wellness in the elderly. The concepts of caring, independence, advocacy and diversity are explored. Students integrate knowledge and skills from other courses through field trips and an introduction to a community agency.
HSRC 165 Clinical Placement 1
(1.5 credits) F, W (50 hours total)
This practice course provides an opportunity to apply the caring philosophy with older adults in an intermediate care facility. Select, supervised experiences will emphasize the application and integration of knowledge and skills learned in all other courses.
In this practice course students learn to apply a caring philosophy with older adults in extended care facilities and special care units. It emphasizes the application of knowledge and skills from other courses. A transition experience provides an opportunity to increase self-confidence in the work settings and to become socialized into the HSRC role.
Prerequisite(s): Satisfactory completion of all Home Support/Resident Care Attendant program courses.
HSRC 170 Interpersonal Communications
(1 credit) F, W (25 hours total)
This 25 hour course focuses on a basic understanding of the communication process and an increased awareness of the impact of our own communication. Students will learn, and have the opportunity to practice, specific communication skills that can be used purposefully, to make their communication as a caregiver more effective.
HSRC 175 Mental Health Issues: Aging
(2 credits) F, W (45 hours total)
This course builds upon content in other courses to assist students to explore concepts and approaches applicable to the care of residents and clients experiencing cognitive impairment and other changes in mental functioning.
HSRC 180 Lifestyle and Choices
(1 credit) F, W (15 hours total)
This course provides students with an introduction to the holistic concept of health and the components of a health-enhancing lifestyle. Students are encouraged to reflect on their own health and to recognize resources for positive health enhancing change.