- What is a Personal Assistant?
Personal Assistant is a figure of support for people
with functional diversity (disability) that has not been seen until very recently
in the world of social services in Spain, despite being
well known in the United States for over thirty years and a dozen European countries
for over twenty years.
Today, this figure is beginning to be considered especially in the
legislation related to empowerment and
care for dependent people and projects that
begin to develop.
A Personal Assistant is someone who helps another to develop their lives.
Personal Assistant that person is therefore that performs or assists
perform tasks of daily living someone else for their situation, either
is a functional diversity or for other reasons, can not carry them out
itself.
This aid is regulated by a professional contract in which the user or user
, usually the person with functional diversity
or legal representative of a person with functional diversity, is the contracting party. The existence
Personal Assistant is based on the desire and the right of people with disabilities
control your own life and live with dignity
involved in being on an equal footing with the rest of the
citizenship.
There is a growing group Larger people have hampered their
physical autonomy, but not lost their ability to decide how
want to live. A very characteristic case is the person who has quadriplegia
and therefore can not handle your hands, arms and legs. For
it needs help with dressing, washing, eating, drinking, for
take notes, to drive, getting around, toileting, etc. Without
Despite not being able to independently perform these tasks
still fully able to take decisions and therefore
to choose the activities you want to do, when and with whom you
perform them.
This person may go regularly to work, study, travel, movies,
shopping, take their children to school, etc. but it needs the company of another person
help you eat, drive, to move, to
drink, etc. This second or third person is the Personal Assistant.
Personal Assistant accompanies the person, a person
traditionally discriminated against by their functional diversity, to perform the tasks it will
indicates when prompted, thus becoming their arms, their eyes, ears
, etc.
An assistant and the person attends are bound by a contractual relationship character
workforce, regardless of their relationship at the personal
. In this working relationship, decisions are taken by people with functional diversity
receiving assistance.
Personal Assistant has rights
established and regulated in advance, to avoid misunderstandings and understands that he works for his "boss
or boss", being available for the duration of your work schedule.
During that time, the decisions rest with the person with functional diversity and working
Personal Assistant to the extent necessary so that decisions are carried out
.
A Personal Assistant can perform his task
working for various people, like a person with functional diversity due to
extent of the support you need, you need to have several assistants working for her personal
.
- What tasks are developed in personal care?
Personal Assistant The profile is defined by the tasks to
will be done by the person who attends, so there is no single profile
although we assume that the Personal Assistant is a support person and help
. The tasks to be performed by a Personal Assistant
are multiple and sometimes difficult to define, while simple to understand and
carry out, as are those that a person needs to do by
it. They can be manufactured
accompanying
characteristics of a person with visual and functional diversity of older people. In the case of people with functional diversity
intellectual, personal assistants may, for example
, perform tasks in support of decision making and the structuring of daily life
. They can also provide support in times of crisis
people with mental functional diversity,
instructions previously provided by the user. And
can perform tasks such as turning pages, shopping, driving, take notes, mark phone,
put things, clean, help with personal hygiene, monitor at work and a long etcetera
, it is impossible to define, for people with physical functional
diversity.
A / a Personal Assistant can perform any task
depending on the situation in which the relevant person who lends his work.
tasks will be defined by the functional differences of the person for whom the Personal Assistant
develop its work and will always
previously agreed by both parties.
We can divide the main tasks in different areas:
- Personal
- Home
- Accompaniment
- Driving
- Interpretation
- Coordination
- Exceptional
- Special
• Personal tasks: are all those which relate directly to the person
such as grooming (washing, showering, shaving, waxing
, etc.), Dressing, getting out of bed, help
physiological needs, help with eating, drinking, strip naked and lie down,
preparing and taking drugs. Answering phones, taking notes, turning pages etc
.
• Housework: those taking place inside the house, from cleaning
own home, to make the beds, order
clothes, used appliances, to make dinner or attend
animals or plants. Accompanying
• Tasks: This is the person to accompany
functional diversity (regardless of age) at home, in the
work on the street (either to manage roles, banking or shopping
) , travel and leisure activities. As in the
vacation time.
• Driving Force: when it also accompanies the wizard
have to drive a car, either to take or pick up the person
functionally diverse, with her to pick up third, etc. ..
• Communication Tasks: refers both to the interpretation
Sign Language to hearing people with disabilities, as the
interpretation of the various alternative communication systems used
that sometimes people with limited communication,
(eg. Some people with cerebral palsy)
• coordination tasks: those related to the daily planning and
aid decision making.
• Exceptional Tasks: are those that are caused by a crisis
the assisted person (which may be physical or psychological
). It will always act in compliance with a protocol previously established for such cases
by own person assisted.
• Special tasks: those related to activities related to sex
(meaning those which involve
support or assistance in preparation).
In some countries (Germany, Denmark) for the assistants there is sexual.
- What training should be the Personal Assistant
There is a widespread tendency to believe that a personal assistant need
specific formal training and support to serve
a person with disabilities.
1. This belief may be true, depending on the needs required
the person with functional diversity, but it is very difficult to define what that
training. The reality is that training is needed to support a person
with functional diversity depends on the individual.
Thus, a person with a tetraplegia
not have the same needs that a person with visual functional diversity.
But above all, the most important is the relationship between the person and his assistant
and understanding of the function that makes a Personal Assistant.
Therefore, for this work is not required academic qualifications
high level, but there can be specific training and accreditation
for the development of this profession, being very convenient to develop a complementary
social skills training to enable the Personal Assistant
have enough knowledge to cope
and behave in interpersonal relationships with the person
with functional diversity in the face achieving the proposed objectives in a climate of mutual respect
.
is also very important that the Personal Assistant is trained in the philosophy of independent living
to understand the balance of the
relationship with the person with functional diversity and understand that their role is to supply
not his will but to work with her carry it out.
A Personal Assistant may have no training or
have great training, but most importantly, be aware and support
person with disabilities in the tasks and duties so designated. In
principle, any adult person can be a Personal Assistant. Not
both training and the attitude and the willingness of the Personal Assistant what
that in most cases is valued.
Nevertheless, there are people with disabilities that require some type of specific support
such as specific health care
not specialized, driving substitution, etc. may require some degree
to be defined by the user.
Regardless of the training and qualifications of the Personal Assistant, this
figure is that of a professional who works for a person with
functional diversity, and a worker has rights and obligations recognized.
must recognize their own agreement and the remuneration to
Social Security, so that figure equals the Personal Assistant
any other group of workers.
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