Personal Support Worker Program Sees Students Enter the Field in Two Semesters

Graduates of Centennial College's Personal Support Worker program are prepared to work with: clients within their homes, and residential facilities or long-term care institutions and community support agencies to assist clients with activities of daily living, under the supervision of professionals and according to a care plan. This variety of options gives students an advantage as they have more career choices and are comfortable in a range of environments.

Centennial College's one-year Ontario College Certificate program prepares students to provide others the care and assistance they need to live active and fulfilled lives. The Personal Support Worker program focuses on the full range of home- and health-related services required by a variety of clients. To apply for the Personal Support Worker program, students must have completed at least an Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD) or equivalent or be 19 years of age or older. Also required is a compulsory English 12C or U credit or skills assessment, or equivalent. Lastly, English proficiency will be considered as part of the admission process.

Once students have been accepted, they will enter an intensely paced program during which they'll spend more than half the total program hours working with teams in long-term care institutions, the community and at in-home settings. This field placement allows them to apply what they have learned in-school. However, on-campus training is just as important and is led by an experienced group of faculty members. Training in the Personal Support Worker program focuses on the full range of home and health related services required by the elderly, clients with disabilities, chronic illnesses, cognitive impairment and also clients recovering from acute illnesses. Specific Personal Support Worker courses include: Anatomy, Foundations of Personal Support, Developmental Stages & Alterations in Health, Personal Support Communication, Foundations of Mental Health, Supporting Clients in Palliative Care and more.

As a result of these Personal Support Worker courses, students graduate program with a skills that include: providing client-centered and client- directed care under supervision; making, collecting, and reporting to the supervisor relevant observations in an ongoing and timely manner and recording this information promptly; supporting the client’s personal care requirements by following care/service plans; communicating effectively and appropriately using oral, written, and nonverbal methods.

Upon graduation, Personal Support Worker program graduates work under the direction of a Registered Nurse or Registered Practical Nurse and may work in a health care facility and home care. According to Ontario Network for Internationally Trained Professionals, in the course of remaking the health care system in Canada, Personal Support Workers are reported to be in growing demand. In addition, the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities, as well as community agencies and clinical settings recognize the certificate.