• We help with the following:
• Community Nursing
• Support Coordination
• In-home support & personal care
• Social outings
• High-Intensity support staff
• Palliative care
• Accompanying you to appointments
• Group activities
• Meal prep
• Deep cleaning of your home

Group activities from our Ipswich HUB:

• Aboriginal dot painting
• Cooking classes
• Drive In movies
• Men’s Coffee catch up
• Ladies morning tea
• Yarning circle

One of the many reasons we are known for our high level of care and quality services is our founder and director, Vanessa Norman, having lived experience. Vanessa understands first-hand what it is like to require service support with her own children. She found a distinct difference between having a provider who is interested and invested in all they do – and those who are not. Heart in Care operates at an exceptionally high standard and quality of care through Vanessa’s own values and expectations.

Vanessa has also found that there is no regulation around support services – other than a mandatory requirement of a blue card, yellow card and CPR. At Heart in Care, our support workers require a minimum certificate III in support services to have sufficient training. Our team has monthly training and upskilling courses with our nurses to be proficient in peg feeding, stoma care, palliative care, ventilators, cough machines, S8 care drugs and more. We have also created our online learning platform to develop quality control and systems to ensure a high level of care and services. This allows us to be professional and provide loving, caring and nurturing care. Vanessa is providing the experience she wishes she received consistently for her own family, and that’s the level of care offered with her team – you become part of our family.

There are many moments and reasons that light us up and instil the motivation behind why we do what we do:

• We love when we receive photos of our clients who are happy and doing things (such as bucket-list moments) that otherwise wouldn’t happen without our support.
• We love granting wishes to our clients and providing fundamental human rights and care. It might seem so basic, but many organisations don’t do that – they will only go to medical appointments, and there’s no time for fun or ability to allow for in-home end-of-life care.
• We love going into a new client’s home, seeing how they live, and then raising the bar with how we can help. We might assist them in losing weight/putting on weight, improving personal appearance and care, home presentation, going to the movies, shopping, or having an animal. It often doesn’t come easy, but it is what we strive to do and achieve.

What sets us apart from other community and disability support organisations?

• Van – we invested in a van that isn’t just for medical appointments. We will take our clients shopping, to visit family and friends, and other arrangements and provide end-of-life experiences to special places that are dear to them, e.g., seeing the beach.
• Communication – we pride ourselves on consistent and open communication so that clients feel safe, secure, cared for and heard.
• Continuity of care – we know how important it is to have regular support workers assisting you or your loved ones. If for some reason, a different support worker needs to attend, we will communicate this in advance so that you know. We won’t charge if you choose to cancel. Our staff always have a communication channel open at all times so that office staff and front life staff have two-way communication, which improves the quality of care provided.
• Empathy – due to our lived experience and knowing what’s required in support and disability care. Many of our staff have a family with children with disabilities, so they know what it is like and what’s needed to provide excellent care that is empathetic and nurturing.
• Warmth – we are not a sterile provider like some larger organisations where you can just be a number and get lost in the system. We are here to welcome and care for you like family.
• Cleaning – we provide deep cleaning that goes beyond sanitisation. We often do tasks other services consider unsafe, including assisting hoarding and squalor. Being a small business that’s family owned and operated allows us to be able to do these tasks so that our clients can live as comfortable as possible.