What is a personal assistant?
A personal assistant supports one or more people with various aspects of their day-to-day life. This helps them live the way they want.
They help individuals who need assistance with daily activities due to age, illness, disability, or other conditions. Here are some of the tasks they might perform:
- personal care: assisting with bathing, dressing, grooming, and hygiene
- mobility assistance: helping with walking, transferring from bed to wheelchair, and other mobility needs
- medication management: reminding or helping to administer medications
- household tasks: performing light housekeeping, meal preparation, and laundry
- companionship: providing emotional support, conversation, and engaging in activities
The opportunity to focus directly on the needs of an individual, and the diversity of the role, are what often attracts people to this type of work.
Employing a personal assistant
A personal assistant is usually hired by someone who needs care and support. This person pays them with their own money or a personal budget. They are called their employer, and they are often referred to as an individual employer.
Sometimes, a family member or representative hires the personal assistant. This is usually because the person needing help does not have the mental or physical capacity to be the employer.
If you employ a carer or personal assistant, you must follow employment law. This would include making sure you pay the correct tax - GOV.UK.
Read about Employing staff for the first time - GOV.UK. There are services that can help you with this and we can give you more information about them if you need it.
Find a personal assistant
Search for a personal assistant using the Help and Kindness Community Directory