The state of Illinois has refined their training requirements for in-home caregivers for seniors, by adding a few very specific training components. Illinois caregivers now may assist with a few tasks that may bump up against other licensing, for instance, they can now shampoo a client’s hair, as long as the shampoo has been medically prescribed as necessary.
Illinois passed an amendment to Administrative Code Title 77 Part 245.71 for home services caregiver training to include more topics for the year 1 training for Illinois caregivers.
Most of the changes are around clarifying wording and making sure it is clear for tasks that must only be done by skilled professionals. For example, Illinois’s new mandate now says non-medical caregivers may assist a care client with dressing, including with ordinary clothing and application of support stockings of the type that can be purchased from a healthcare professional. However, caregivers may not assist with applying an elastic bandage that can be purchased only with a prescription from a healthcare professional. It’s these types of clarifications that make a clearer line between what Illinois caregivers may assist with vs. what only qualified skilled doctors and nurses and occupational and physical therapists may do.
The amendment also requires a competency exam for a few topics – however, guess what? The Professional Association of Caregivers training provider for senior caregiver training has always provided competency exams and even goes the extra mile to provide 3 different versions with 3 different sets of questions to help caregivers truly learn and retain the information they are taught.
The Caregiver Training University provides the training for all P.A.C. members and provides tutorials on the state requirements along with outlines of the course topics. Find Caregiver training for your state’s senior home caregiver skill requirements.