Review: Careers for Caring People and Other Sensitive Types (2003)

Careers for Caring People and Other Sensitive Types (2003), by Adriana Paradis, is a vocational guidebook about care-giving careers. It presents a general overview of care-giving, the required personal qualifications, such as a general liking for people and intellectual curiosity, job availability, and personal and professional rewards as a care-giver. The primary focus of this book is job positions that call for shorter training periods, more practical for those with limited financial resources who need to start earning money as soon as possible.

This book is written for college students, recent graduates, and career changers who want to help others in care-giving roles. It contains information on salaries, working conditions, educational options, and opportunities for professional advancement. There are eight chapters that focus on care-giving careers in hospitals, nursing homes, senior day-care centers, child day-care centers, hospices, home health services, and social services.

Clinical and direct-practice social workers would find this book an excellent resource in their personal library collection. Macro practice social workers who work in the emerging fields of gerontology, public health, and child and family policy should also consider this book. College students and recent graduates will find this introductory resource easy to read with a directory of organizations in the appendix.