A can-do mindset

Teraez Fogarty is excited about how home care services are helping older people live well for longer at home.

As Uniting AgeWell’s Director, Eastern Metro Home Care, Teraez is charged with making sure that over 2400 Commonwealth-funded home care clients receive the best-possible advice and services through Uniting AgeWell's programs.

She also oversees the development and mentoring of 70 office-based personnel at the new home care hub at Burwood East, as well as 130 home care workers who provide services to clients across the entire Eastern region.

International Women’s Day is an important opportunity for Uniting AgeWell to recognise the impact of its valued members of staff, like Teraez and to reaffirm our commitment to providing truly inclusive career pathways.

Teraez has been with Uniting AgeWell since mid-2022 and is a vital force driving Uniting AgeWell’s growth in home care, leveraging its reputation for excellent care and service.

Teraez has also been pivotal in a major venture to consolidate the Melbourne East Metro Home Care Team from a number of sites and move them into new premises at the new Uniting AgeWell East Community Hub in Burwood East. The Forest Hill and Box Hill Allied Health Services will also move to the hub, which will incorporate a wellness centre due to open mid-year. Uniting AgeWell will use the huge training rooms in the hub to hold educational days or forums for the community, including prospective clients and their families and carers.

“We are partnering much more with family members than in the past in being able to offer older people wrap-around services to live well at home,” says Teraez. “It’s an exciting time. Our mindset is not what we can’t achieve but what can.”

It’s a mindset that Teraez has always embraced. She started out doing general administrative work, before commencing what would turn into a long career in aged care. She found herself thoroughly enjoying working with older people and obtained dual certificates in Aged Care and Home and Community Care, later studying nursing.

Her unique blend of clinical, administrative and management skills has seen Teraez go from strength to strength in the aged care home services arena. She has held several very senior managerial positions, both in Victoria and Queensland, and last year she was selected to take part in Uniting AgeWell’s Strategic Leaders Course.

“Uniting AgeWell is growing me to be the best version of myself,” says Teraez. “I want to make sure I do the same for my team.”