Home Health Aides
Monitor the health status of an individual with disabilities or illness, and address their health-related needs, such as changing bandages, dressing wounds, or administering medication. Work is performed under the direction of offsite or intermittent onsite licensed nursing staff. Provide assistance with routine healthcare tasks or activities of daily living, such as feeding, bathing, toileting, or ambulation. May also help with tasks such as preparing meals, doing light housekeeping, and doing laundry depending on the patient's abilities.
$35,800 a year (for the broader BLS group this job sits in).
of the working time. Estimate.
- 14%
- 8%
- 78%
Anthropic's data does not cover this job.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 4.4 h long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 1%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 14%. Today's estimate: 14%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
The tasks
Sorted by . 15 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plan, purchase, prepare, or serve meals to patients or other family members, according to prescribed diets.Done daily by most who do it. | 17% | 50 min25 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Care for patients by changing bed linens, washing and ironing laundry, cleaning, or assisting with their personal care.Done daily by most who do it. | 13% | 50 min25 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Provide patients with help moving in and out of beds, baths, wheelchairs, or automobiles and with dressing and grooming.Done daily by most who do it. | 10% | 21 min8 min to 42 min | Stays with people | |
| Care for children with disabilities or who have sick parents or parents with disabilities.Done daily by most who do it. | 10% | 2.5 h50 min to 5 h | Stays with people | |
| Provide patients and families with emotional support and instruction in areas such as caring for infants, preparing healthy meals, living independently, or adapting to disability or illness.Done daily by most who do it. | 9% | 38 min17 min to 1.3 h | 100%Half by now | |
| Entertain, converse with, or read aloud to patients to keep them mentally healthy and alert.Done daily by most who do it. | 8% | 25 min13 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Perform a variety of duties as requested by client, such as obtaining household supplies or running errands.Done daily by most who do it. | 7% | 38 min17 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Bathe patients.Done daily by most who do it. | 6% | 29 min17 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Maintain records of patient care, condition, progress, or problems to report and discuss observations with supervisor or case manager.Done daily by most who do it. | 6% | 17 min8 min to 33 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Direct patients in simple prescribed exercises or in the use of braces or artificial limbs.Done daily by most who do it. | 5% | 25 min13 min to 38 min | Stays with people | |
| Accompany clients to doctors' offices or on other trips outside the home, providing transportation, assistance, and companionship.Done yearly or less by most who do it. | 2% | 1.7 h50 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Administer prescribed oral medications, under the written direction of physician or as directed by home care nurse or aide, and ensure patients take their medicine.Done daily by most who do it. | 2% | 8 min4 min to 17 min | Stays with people |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025). Counts are for the broader BLS group this job sits in.
- Individual and Family Services2,312,380 people
- Home Health Care Services1,079,060 people
- Residential Intellectual and Developmental Disability, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse Facilities321,290 people
- Continuing Care Retirement Communities and Assisted Living Facilities for the Elderly265,100 people
- Vocational Rehabilitation Services56,970 people
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025). Counts are for the broader BLS group this job sits in.