Founder's story

Judi Cohen wasn’t looking to operate home support services – but a twist in fate introduced her to Care With Quality nine years after it had launched at the kitchen table of its founders.

Judi had spent her professional life as an Occupational Therapist enabling people to live their best lives by maximising independence and enhancing quality of life. So, with the founders ready to move on, Judi imagined bringing that same focus to the home care industry through Care With Quality.

The love and connection with her two grandmothers, both in their 90s, added to Judi’s passion. Under Judi’s direction, the team shaped a heartfelt approach to supporting people at home – just as it had been in her own family.

But Judi was determined to offer more than just great care.

To ensure a Best Practice approach Judi joined the Community Care Taskforce at Leading Aged Services Australia (now ACCPA) and became the Chaiperson of the Taskforce for 11 years. Projects included understanding what a client centred approach truly entailed and documenting the inherent skills required for support workers.

Judi negotiated Care With Quality’s participation in government-funded projects to enhance quality of life of Australians ageing at home, such as the ‘Life Book’ project, which captured people’s individual lives in photo books. The Brotherhood of St Laurence’s Good Food Matters project aimed at preparing meals in homes and giving the aroma of home cooked meals while providing a week’s worth of food in one session. Other social group initiatives under the banner of the SCARF Program made it possible for those at home to engage in social activities and stay connected to community.

Keeping people well was always about engaging with the whole life of each person – at home and in the community – to make days better, and enable ageing Australians to get the most out of life.

Today, that simple idea lives on as we move forward into the next chapter – now as Homewell – to bring a whole-hearted approach to the highest quality home support services, with quality of life at the heart of everything we do, just as Judi imagined.