Support Worker Diploma & Care Assistant Certificate

This Support Worker Diploma & Care Assistant Certificate curriculum prepares learners for hands-on roles across health and social care services. The course develops professional care skills, safeguarding awareness, legal understanding, communication abilities, and safe working practices needed to support vulnerable adults and children in a wide range of care settings.

Module 01: Introduction to Support Work

This module introduces the role of the support worker and explains where support workers are needed within health and social care. You will learn about person-centred care, dignity, independence, and how support workers promote wellbeing while working as part of a wider care team.

Module 02: Fundamentals of Health and Social Care

You will explore the basic concepts, values, and structures of health and social care services. This module explains how services are organised, who uses them, and how care workers contribute to meeting physical, emotional, and social needs through compassionate, ethical, and professional practice.

Module 03: Role as a Caregiver and Healthcare Professional

This module explains your responsibilities as both a caregiver and a healthcare professional. You will learn about professional conduct, confidentiality, boundaries, and duty of care, and how your behaviour, communication, and competence directly affect the safety, trust, and wellbeing of the people you support.

Module 04: Working in Health and Social Care; Promoting Equality, Diversity and Rights

You will learn how to promote equality, respect diversity, and protect rights in everyday care practice. The module explains discrimination, inclusive communication, cultural awareness, and how person-centred approaches ensure every service user is treated fairly and supported according to their individual needs and values.

Module 05: Rights and Responsibilities as a Health and Social Care Worker

This module outlines your legal and ethical responsibilities as a care worker. You will learn about professional boundaries, confidentiality, safeguarding duties, and employment responsibilities, as well as the rights of workers to be supported, trained, respected, and kept safe in their workplace.

Module 06: Legislation, Policy and Guidance

You will study the key laws, regulations, and national guidelines that govern health and social care practice. This module explains why legislation protects vulnerable people, how organisations meet legal duties, and how workers must follow policies and procedures to deliver safe, compliant and ethical care.

Module 07: Important Principles and Policies in Health and Social Care Work

This module explores core principles such as confidentiality, dignity, consent, independence, and safeguarding. You will learn how policies translate these principles into daily practice, and how following them helps ensure consistent standards, accountability, and high-quality care across different services and settings.

Module 08: Information Governance

You will learn how personal information must be handled securely within health and social care. This module covers confidentiality, data protection, record keeping, and professional responsibilities, showing how correct information governance protects service users’ privacy, maintains trust, and ensures compliance with legal requirements.

Module 09: Safeguarding Vulnerable Individuals

This module introduces safeguarding and explains how to protect vulnerable people from abuse, neglect, and exploitation. You will learn to recognise warning signs, respond to concerns, follow reporting procedures, and work with other professionals to ensure individuals are supported, listened to, and kept safe.

Module 10: An Introduction to Safeguarding of Vulnerable Adults

You will focus specifically on safeguarding adults at risk, such as older people or individuals with disabilities. The module explains types of abuse, capacity issues, reporting duties, and how support workers help create environments where adults are respected, empowered, and protected from harm or mistreatment.

Module 11: Child Protection

This module explains how children can be at risk of abuse and neglect and the responsibilities of care staff in protecting them. You will learn to recognise indicators of harm, understand child protection procedures, and work with families and professionals to keep children safe and supported.

Module 12: Safeguarding – Assessing Need and Providing Help

You will learn the first stages of assessing safeguarding needs, including observation, information sharing, and initial responses. This module explains how early identification, listening to concerns, and documenting evidence help professionals plan appropriate support and interventions for vulnerable individuals.

Module 13: Understanding the Importance of Communication in Care

You will explore how effective communication underpins safe and compassionate care. This module covers verbal and non-verbal communication, active listening, barriers to understanding, and adapting communication for different needs, ensuring service users feel valued, understood, and fully involved in decisions about their care.

Module 14: The Participation of The Service User

This module explains why service user involvement is central to person-centred care. You will learn how to encourage independence, choice, and decision-making, and how involving individuals in planning and reviewing their care improves outcomes, dignity, motivation, and overall quality of life.

Module 15: Partnership Working

You will learn how health and social care professionals work together to support service users. This module explains teamwork, information sharing, roles of different professionals, and the importance of cooperation between families, carers, organisations, and agencies in delivering coordinated, safe, and effective care.

Module 16: Health and Safety Responsibilities

This module covers your duties under health and safety legislation in care settings. You will learn about risk assessment, accident prevention, infection risks, safe working practices, and reporting procedures, helping you protect yourself, colleagues, and service users from avoidable harm and workplace incidents.

Module 17: Infection Prevention and Control

You will study infection prevention principles including hand hygiene, PPE use, and safe cleaning practices. This module explains how infections spread, how outbreaks are controlled, and why strict hygiene standards are essential in protecting vulnerable people and maintaining safe healthcare and care environments.

Module 18: CSTF Resuscitation – Basic Life Support

This module introduces basic life support and emergency response skills. You will learn how to recognise cardiac arrest, call for help, perform CPR at a basic level, and use primary response principles, helping you respond confidently and appropriately in life-threatening situations within care settings.

Module 19: Manual Handling Techniques

You will learn safe manual handling techniques for moving people and objects in care environments. The module explains posture, equipment use, risk assessment, and teamwork to prevent injury, protect service users’ dignity, and ensure lifting and transferring tasks are performed safely and professionally.

Module 20: Managing Stress and Maintaining Well-Being

This module explores the emotional demands of care work and strategies for managing stress. You will learn about resilience, self-care, work–life balance, and when to seek support, helping you maintain your own wellbeing while continuing to provide compassionate and effective care to others.

Module 21: Improving Health and Wellbeing

You will learn how care workers promote healthy lifestyles and positive wellbeing for service users. This module covers physical activity, emotional support, social engagement, and holistic approaches, showing how small daily actions help individuals maintain independence, confidence, and better overall quality of life.

Module 22: Healthy Food, Healthy Living

This module introduces the principles of nutrition and healthy eating in care settings. You will learn about balanced diets, hydration, special dietary needs, and food safety, and how supporting good nutrition improves recovery, immunity, energy levels, and long-term wellbeing for people in your care.

Module 23: Mental Health Care

You will explore common mental health conditions and the role of support workers in assisting affected individuals. This module explains stigma reduction, recognising distress, supporting recovery plans, and promoting dignity and respect for those experiencing anxiety, depression, dementia, or other mental health difficulties.

Module 24: Solving Issues (Problem-Solving)

This module develops practical problem-solving skills used in daily care work. You will learn how to assess situations, prioritise risks, communicate concerns, and choose appropriate actions, helping you respond calmly and effectively when challenges arise in care environments or with individual service users.

Module 25: Medication Management and Administration

You will learn about safe handling, storage, and administration of medications in line with organisational policies. This module explains record keeping, error prevention, roles and limits of responsibility, and the importance of double-checking instructions to protect service users from harm and ensure correct treatment.

Module 26: Response to Immediate Crisis

This module prepares you to respond to emergencies such as sudden illness, injury, or emotional crisis. You will learn how to stay calm, assess the situation, call for help, provide basic assistance, and follow procedures to keep individuals safe until specialist support arrives.

Module 27: Consenting for Someone Else

You will explore situations where individuals cannot give consent themselves due to capacity issues. This module explains legal frameworks, advocacy, best-interest decisions, and the role of families or representatives, ensuring that support workers act lawfully and ethically when decisions must be made on someone’s behalf.

Module 28: Best Interest Decision Making

This module explains how best-interest decisions are made for people lacking capacity. You will learn to consider wishes, beliefs, risks, and professional guidance, and understand how multidisciplinary teams work together to ensure decisions respect dignity, safety, and the rights of vulnerable individuals.

Module 29: Understanding Child Development

You will study key stages of child development including physical, emotional, cognitive, and social growth. This module explains how development varies between children, how delays may appear, and how care workers support healthy progress through positive interaction, observation, encouragement, and safe environments.

Module 30: Caring for Children

This module focuses on practical skills for caring for children in health and social care settings. You will learn about safety, emotional support, play, communication with families, and recognising signs of ill health, ensuring children receive nurturing, age-appropriate care that supports development and wellbeing.

Module 31: Keeping Children Healthy & Safe

You will learn how to protect children from illness, accidents, and neglect through safe practices and supervision. This module covers hygiene, nutrition, safe environments, risk assessment, and safeguarding duties, helping you create supportive surroundings where children can grow, learn, and thrive in safety.