Nancy Magurn found her calling while taking care of her elderly parents, doing assorted odds and ends around their house: changing bed linens, cleaning, doing laundry, shopping for food, helping them to the toilet, and numerous other chores. They were everyday tasks that she gladly shouldered. “I loved my parents,” says Magurn of Watertown. “They were everything to me.”

So when Magurn – unemployed and facing a downturn in the garment industry, her career niche – saw a want ad for an elder companion, she thought, “Why not?” That was five years ago, and today Magurn is a personal and home care aide for several clients in the Boston area, employed by Senior Homecare Solutions, a Newton based homecare and companionship service for elderly clients and their families. The service allows the elderly to maintain as much independence as possible, keeping loved ones at home, and relieving stress for family caregivers. “I do everything from reminding clients to take medication to bringing them to wakes and funerals,” says Magurn, who says that her role is to provide non-medical care and to be invisible and unobtrusive while making sure those in her care are safe and happy. “It’s kind of a tricky balance, to be at their beck and call but not in their face. You can’t be clanking dishes in the kitchen.”

Employment of personal and homecare aides is projected to grow by 51 percent to 2016, as aging baby boomers face mounting health problems and require assistance with daily living. While the occupation is typically low paying – average earnings are around $9 an hour – aides usually work on their own and can typically set their own schedules without a lot of surveillance and supervision.