Meet the Team: Kate Gertau

13 December 2023

Kate is one of our dedicated occupational therapists, who recently commenced a role as the Acting Allied Health Team Lead for our Aged Care team - so she not only assists our Commonwealth Home Support Program (CHSP) clients but also the other occupational therapists and physios on her team.

She's been with us for almost 2 years but has already made a huge difference to her team and clients.

What does your role involve?

I still have a small caseload of CHSP clients who I see for Occupational Therapy assessment in the community however my main role is supporting our Occupational Therapist (OT), Physiotherapists and Allied Health Assistant with day-to-day service delivery for Aged Care clients. My daily ‘to do list’ is constantly changing whilst I support our staff in their current roles and develop further resources and procedures for the growth of Aged Care Services at Indigo.

What do you like most about your role and working at Indigo?

I can honestly say that what I enjoy most about my role is the people I work with- our team and our clients. Our team are all so friendly and supportive. We all work remotely but there is always someone available on teams to answer a question in our ‘virtual office’. I also enjoy meeting our clients, hearing their life stories and consider it a privilege to be involved in making their lives that little bit easier.

Tell us about the most interesting project you have worked on during your career.

Since starting in the role of Allied Health Team Lead, I have been working on two main projects. The first is looking to improve the experience of OT Students when on placement at Indigo. We have OT Students from both Curtin and Edith Cowen University throughout the year who attend Indigo for placements ranging from 3-8 weeks. Our OTs do a wonderful job of exposing and educating these students in the CHSP role however the nature of our Home Visting roles can be logistically tricky for students to shadow. I am working on improving the experience of student supervision for both our OTs and students.

The second has been working closely with our Aged Care Manager and our second team lead to develop Indigo’s Home Care Package service delivery. We are looking forward to providing further Aged Care Services to older adults in 2024.

Describe a memorable moment arising from your role.

I recently had a client call me to say that the cushion I had prescribed for her was like “heaven on a stick.”

Of the four Indigo values (integrity, passion, creativity, together), which one do you express the most strongly during your workday, and why?

Integrity. Or perhaps it is passion or a bit of both! I feel very fortunate to have been close to my grandparents when I was growing up. As such, I treat all of my clients with the care and compassion I would give my own grandparents.