Illinois Home Health Aide Programs

New graduates celebrate with their families at their nursing commencement ceremony.

How to Become a Home Health Aide in Illinois and Home Health Aide Programs in Illinois

Home health aides work in the homes of individuals who are chronically ill, disabled, or otherwise unable to care for themselves. These aides have many different responsibilities, and the specific requirements of the job will vary with each individual client. If you're interested in learning about how to become a home health aide in Illinois and home health aide programs in Illinois, it's helpful to first understand exactly what is required of individuals in this profession. Home health aides perform many basic tasks for their clients including food preparation, housekeeping, shopping, and personal hygiene tasks. They are also responsible for monitoring the health of their clients.

There are relatively few formal requirements for home health aides. The state of Illinois requires all home health aides to complete an approved training course which educates the student on patient care, basic medical terminology, proper record keeping, and principles of cleanliness and safety. There is a variety of nursing arts courses in the state which meet these requirements. Individuals may also work as a home health aide in the state of Illinois if they are registered as a home health aide in another state or have completed US military training that meets the requirements of a basic nurse assistant training program.

Home health aide certification is available from the National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC). To receive certification, students must complete at least 75 hours of formal training, demonstrate competency in 17 key skills, and pass a written examination. Though this certification is not always required, it greatly improves your employability in this field. Employers prefer aids that are well-educated and certified. Home health aides are required to carry this certification if they are working for an establishment that receives Medicare or Medicaid reimbursement, so there are a number of agencies that cannot legally employ uncertified home health aides.

The job outlook for home health aides is expected to be excellent in the coming years. The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that job opportunities in this field will increase by 69 percent over the 2010 to 2020 decade. This is much faster than the national average. This Chicago-Joliet-Naperville area is the second-highest metropolitan employer of home health aides in the country. In Illinois, the annual mean wage for home health aides is $23,010, or about $11.06 an hour. Those with earnings in the top ten percent earn more than $28,980 while those in the bottom ten percent make less than $18,600 a year.

• Illinois Department of Public Health
• Cook County Department of Public Health
• Dupage County Health Department
• Macon County Health Department, Decatur, IL