Aged care course in Melbourne: where can your career take you?
So you’re deciding which aged care course in Melbourne you should enrol in.
No doubt, there are a lot of thoughts on your mind – most importantly, which career pathways are open to you in the aged care industry.
Our team at Academia wants to makes sure that you are fully informed and that you make the right move to kick off a rewarding and enjoyable career.
As part of that, we’re committed to ensuring that you know exactly what career pathways are open to you when you enrol in an aged care course.
Luckily for you, the aged care industry is one with plentiful job opportunities. Demand for carers is on the rise, and Australia’s aging population means that this is a sector that’s set for growth.
As such, there are a range of different fields open to students who decide to enrol in a course and study aged care in Melbourne.
Where might you be in 5-10 years? The different types of aged care, explained
Before you decide to enroll in an aged care course, you’ll want to have a clear idea of which doors are going to be open for you.
That’s because aged care isn’t a single job – it’s an entire industry sector, with different types of care, plenty of branches and specialist services.
Before you enrol in an aged care course, you’ll want to know exactly what this sector has to offer.
So, where exactly can enrolling with Academia and studying aged care in Melbourne take you?
1. Residential care
When we think of aged care, chances are it’s residential care that first comes to mind.
This is the most common type of position in the aged care industry, and refers to caring for elderly patients in an aged care facility.
In particular, residential care workers will be engaged to provide care for patients who’ve been taken into care as a result of illness or disability that have grown too serious for their family to properly care for them.
In a residential care facility, patients have access to 24-hour nursing care and staff.
In addition to administering care, in many cases you may also be required to look after daily duties and tasks they can no longer perform independently such as cleaning and cooking.
Your responsibilities don’t just include care – on top of looking after physical wellbeing, you’ll also be there to provide social support in many instances.
2. Respite carer
Sometimes, a patient doesn’t need a professional carer, instead relying on the support of close relatives to help maintain their independence.
These family members deserve a break every once in a while – but who’s going to look after their elderly relatives in the meantime?
You, that’s who!
A respite carer is an incredibly important role. This role involves caring for elderly patients when the main carer needs time off or a break for any reason.
This may be a family member – alternatively, it may be a qualified disability support worker who due to personal reasons needs time off work.
There are many kinds of respite work, including:
In order to be qualified for such a position, you will require a Certificate III in Individual Support.
If you wish to advance your career further, you can even use your certificate as a pathway towards a Bachelor of Social Work.
3. Specialised dementia care
Dementia care is a highly specialised form of aged care that poses many unique challenges.
As such, it requires a higher level of training, and a specialised aged care course!
Dementia patients are highly vulnerable, and there are many different types of dementia – the term covers over 100 different kinds of memory-related diseases.
In particular, you will need to have an in-depth understanding of these three kinds of dementia, as they are the most common form of neurodegenerative conditions that affect people over the age of 75:
- Alzheimer’s disease
- Vascular dementia
- Dementia with lewy bodies
In order to work with patients suffering from dementia, it is very likely that employers will ask for a Certificate IV in Dementia Practice.
To get started however, you may first need to obtain a Certificate III in Individual Support and a Certificate IV in Ageing Support. This can create a pathway to completing further education in dementia and disability support.
4. Palliative care
If you study aged care, you could find yourself working palliative care.
It is an extremely important and challenging role as patients in palliative care are not expected to recover.
It is important for palliative carers to make sure their patients’ physical, psychological and spiritual needs are all met.
Unlike other forms of care however, a large part of your role as a palliative carer will also be help patients’ families.
Coming to terms with the inevitable loss of a loved one is hard – one of your responsibilities will be to help with that.
Depending upon the employer, it is not always essential to have a certificate to work in palliative care.
However, a Certificate III in Individual Support and a Certificate IV in Ageing Support will set you apart from other applicants and make you eligible for a wider variety of jobs.
Kickstart your career by studying aged care in Melbourne
Regardless of what path you want to take, if your goal is to build yourself a career in aged care, you’ll need to start by getting certified.
And there’s no better place to start your career than by studying aged care in Melbourne with Academia!
We provide high quality education for those hoping to get into aged care, and have built a positive reputation for being a well-respected institution within the industry.
Our aged care courses include:
Certificate III in Individual Support
This qualification will provide you with the skills to look after people in residential care and in the home environment.
Included in this course is a required work placement of 150 hours. During these hours, you will gain first-hand experience in applying your learned knowledge from the classroom to real-life scenarios.
You will be assessed on your skills and knowledge through a mixture of in-class written tests and your real-world performance during work placement.
Click here to learn more about the Certificate III in Individual Support.
Certificate IV in Ageing Support
If you decide to study aged care and you’ve already completed the Certificate III in Individual Support, you will be eligible to continue your studies with the Certificate IV in Ageing Support.
This more advanced qualification teaches students specialised care techniques required to provide care for individuals who have complex needs.
Additionally, you will also be provided with the required skills and knowledge to manage or oversee a group of co-workers and take on a leadership role within your organisation, with subjects including:
- Specialised equipment
- Coordinating and organising services
- Implement interventions in at-risk patients
- Legal and ethical compliance subjects
During the Certificate IV, you’ll be required to complete 120 hours of workplace training, which will contribute to your assessment along with written tests.
Click here to learn more about the Certificate IV in Ageing Support.
Study aged care with Academia – enrol in our aged care courses
Interested in an aged care course? Our team of dedicated tutors and teaches would love to help you get started on your career pathway.
We are always looking for bright and enthusiastic students to join our institution!
You can fill out our enquiry form to find out more about the aged course that Academia offer. If you are interested in studying with Academia you can call our team on the numbers below:
