Lifestyle Officer
What the work is
Delivers recreation, lifestyle and leisure-based activity group programs to support, challenge and enhance the psychological, spiritual, social, emotional and physical wellbeing of individuals primarily in health care or aged care homes, and encourages program participation.
Would you enjoy the work?
These are the main tasks in the official description. Mark how each one sounds to you.
- Assists the Lifestyle Coordinator to deliver leisure-based activity group programs to assist with social development, promote a sense of wellbeing, and enable interaction with others
- Encourages participation and independence in suitable leisure and recreational events based on interest, abilities, skills and autonomy
- Monitors individuals' conditions during program participation and reports any issues to care staff
- Documents and records individuals' behaviours, ensures their needs are being met, and advises the Lifestyle Coordinator when anomalies are detected
- Maintains a knowledge of resources available within a facility and the community
- Engages with community groups to build a network of support and provides information on available support resources within the local community
Try it
A simulation and a case study from this kind of work, set in the activities room and courtyard of a residential aged care home. They are fictional.
The kind of days you could have
Good days
- A resident who rarely speaks hums along to a song from their youth
- A group activity you planned for ten ends up with the whole lounge joining in
- A family member tells you it was the first time in weeks they saw their mum laugh
Hard days
- An outing you spent weeks planning is cancelled by the weather on the morning
- A resident you have grown close to declines and no longer wants to join in
- Trying to plan for twenty different people when no two want the same thing
Written by Career Calling as a general guide. Real roles vary by employer and place.
Work a mission
Step into a simulated workplace in this field, with a brief from your manager.
Description and tasks: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Occupation Standard Classification for Australia, 2024, Version 1.0 (opens another site), occupation 411333, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. The skill guide above is our plain English summary.