Essential Skills for Aged Care

This LLN course is a preparatory program designed to improve English language and literacy skills needed for successfully undertaking further vocational studies in the aged care and disability sectors. It is targeting people with low literacy (ACSF1 and below) who would like to improve their literacy skills, learn more about the job role, daily routines and procedures together with the associated specialist vocabulary.

In addition to the course being a pre-vocational program, it is also on offer parallel to students undertaking the CHC33015 Certificate III in Individual support (Ageing, Disability) course. For current students this program focuses on enhancing students’ oral and written communication, numeracy as well as digital literacy skills required for entry to the aged care and disability sectors.

The core skills of speaking, listening, reading, writing and numeracy are embedded in Aged Care topic-based content. Tasks include a range of materials from the sector at a suitable level. Each topic addresses basic vocabulary related to and useful across the Aged Care sector, which is then applied to reading, writing, numeracy, and oral communication tasks. Employability skills are enhanced through participation in integrated learning activities.

The course content includes:

• Knowledge and understanding of different roles and skill sets within the Aged Care sector and development of supported individual pathway plan into the most suitable role

• The human body and common age-related diseases, healthy diet, attitudes to ageing and older people, elder abuse

• Workplace communication skills, such as following instructions, understanding procedures, making phone calls, asking for repetition and clarification, writing short, simple incident reports, messages and work-related emails, filling in forms, awareness of cultural differences in communication

• WHS and safe work practices, such as identifying hazards and removing/minimising risk

• Using technology for study and work, namely using the internet, email, and Microsoft Word

The course includes eight hours of workplace visits to give students an opportunity to talk to staff, observe their work routines and familiarise themselves with the equipment and technology that is used on an everyday basis.

It is expected that on completion of the course, the learners will have developed their literacy and numeracy, learning and employability skills and ready to undertake the CHC33015 Certificate III in Individual support (Ageing, Disability) course.

Some learners might transition into entry-level jobs in the aged care sector such as, cleaner, laundry worker, kitchen hand/cook, or apply for a volunteer job.