Job Overview Adult day care coordinators are more often known as adult day services coordinators. This type of workers are the ones responsible for directing day service programs for adults who have physical as well as mental disabilities, or both types of impairments. The clients for the programs that they conceptualize are usually the elderlies or those at their old age already, although it is not confined to such groups. Other clients who avail of their services are those who are under recovery or rehabilitation from stoke or heart attacks, with residual diabilities, or those who have been born with inborn conditions or impairments.
Education, Knowledge and Trainings Required
As they say, as this is a relatively developing or growing field, new to the industry, there are no national standards that have been established for the profession adult day care coordinator. Many employers though prefer to hire applicants who meet the standards set by the NADSA, or the National Adult Day Service Association. The standards specifies a bachelor's degree in any related field, plus a year of experience in a supervisory position in a health serivce or social service setting.
Skills and Abilities
The skills needed in this job are skills in leadership and management, helping and teaching skills as well as good communication and interpersonal skills. The adult day care coordinators must act as leaders in promoting quality services to their clients, and must be able to influence the staff in doing so. Communication skills and interpersonal skills are needed since they deal with delegating tasks, coordinating activities and evaluating services renedered with different types of people involved.
Duties
Basically, the adult day care coordinators direct the adult day care centers they handle. There is a variation as to the duties that they may fulfill. This is because of the variations in the size of the day care center, the types of services they offer, as well as the cases that they usually handle.
Generally, the hold the responsibility of coordinating the activities and ensuring that the centers are smoothly functioning well, providing the clients what they exactly need. The activities of care may include their daily social activities, exercise, meaitenance and promotion of personal hygiene, feeding, as well as providing medications and therapies as appropriate. They are also in charge of overseeing the staff, mostly the caregivers, nurses, phyiscal therapists, social workers, in providing and rendering services to the clients.
Job Outlook and Earnings
The range of salary for this kind of job is roughly around 18,000 U.S. dollars for the starting level, and 31,000 to 45,000 U.S. dollars respectively for those with professional experiences in the field already. As this is a new profession, in a new and growing industry, the prospect for job employment is expected to increase until the year 2014.
Paula Hiz is a researcher and a human resource specialist who helps newly graduates, job applicants and post graduate professionals be aware of their job opportunities and available trainings for skills and practice upgrading.