The health care assistant is a professional not directly involved in curing , but in preventing certain types of diseases (such as infectious, chronic-degenerative or occupational ones) and maintaining the health of the person as a whole. This course will allow you to acquire knowledge (concerning general medicine and specialist clinical, psycho-pedagogical, socio-health and organisational subjects) useful for the profession; its practical approach will allow you to understand how to identify health needs, to better plan health prevention and health promotion activities, also in relation to the social, cultural and environmental context. You will be able to enter the job market directly, mainly in public structures (but also in private ones) and acting in close collaboration with multiple professionals.
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Characteristics and objectives
Health assistants are experts in health prevention, promotion and education, in compliance with the job description established by Italian Ministerial Decree no. 69 of 17/01/1997.
The activity of these professionals is addressed to the person, the family and the community. They identify the health needs and the priorities of preventive, educational and recovery intervention.
His job is not to cure disease or do rehabilitation: his mission is to promote and maintain health and wellbeing. In particular this professional, with his action, prevents infectious diseases and chronic degenerative diseases. Moreover, he prevents work-related diseases and injuries. Also maternal and child health is his goal. Health assistants collaborate in the organization and operation of health and social services. He acts as a union between hospital and territorial services.
The university course to become a health assistant includes the study of the basics of general medicine, hygiene and epidemiology, psychology, pedagogy and sociology. The students also study legislative subject and they study the foundations of prevention and health promotion and education.
The skills acquired allow to understand and get to know the person in the different stages of life and, at the same time, understand the complexity of the communities as a social, cultural and environmental context. At the end of these studies the professional will be able to identify early the biological and social risk factor, the need of promotional, preventive and educational intervention and to plan, implement and verify it.
Occupational opportunities
Health assistants will be able to enter the job market directly, mainly in public structures (but also in private ones) and acting in close collaboration with multiple professionals.
For example, in National Health Services they can work in the general and medical direction, in public relations offices, in prevention and protection services, in worker health surveillance services, in regional epidemiological services, in quality services and in prevention department. In this last one, they can work in the hygiene and public health services,
hygiene prevention and workplace safety services, food and nutrition hygiene services, health education and promotion services, cancer screening services and so on. Moreover, they can find employment in local services for socio-health purposes.
Finally, they can find employment in foundations, nursing homes, regional offices for disease prevention and control and health planning, in penal institution health service, in the National Institute for Insurance against Accidents at Work (INAIL).
From Bachelor's degree to Master's degree
The graduate can continue the studies with a master's degree (LM/SNT4).