High-Intensity Daily Personal Activities: What Care Does That Include?

If you’ve ever come across the term High-Intensity Daily Personal Activities (HIDPA) under the NDIS, you may have paused and thought:

“This sounds important... but what does it really mean in day-to-day life?”

You’re not alone. For many families and participants, the wording feels technical, even a little intimidating. But at its heart, HIDPA is about making sure people with complex medical needs get safe, consistent, and dignified care - the kind that makes everyday living possible.

In this guide, I’ll walk you through what HIDPA actually includes, what kind of support you can expect, who provides it, how safety is ensured, and why it matters so deeply for participants and their families.

What Are High-Intensity Daily Personal Activities (HIDPA)?

The NDIS uses this term to describe supports that involve specialised, high-risk, or medically complex care. These aren’t your everyday personal care tasks (like showering, dressing, or eating). Instead, HIDPA covers things that, if not done correctly, could pose a serious risk to someone’s health.

It’s about keeping people safe and stable while still allowing them to live at home, attend school, work, or be part of the community.

What Care Does HIDPA Include?

High-Intensity Daily Personal Activities usually involve:

1. Complex Bowel Care

Managing constipation, enemas, manual evacuation, or bowel programs designed by a health professional.

2. Enteral Feeding (Tube Feeding)

Providing nutrition, hydration, or medication through a PEG tube (gastrostomy) or NG tube (nasogastric).

3. Tracheostomy Care

Cleaning, suctioning, and monitoring to keep airways open and prevent blockages.

4. Ventilation Support

Using and monitoring ventilators, responding to alarms, and ensuring breathing support is always maintained.

5. Subcutaneous Injections

Administering medication such as insulin safely, at the right time and dosage.

6. Catheter & Stoma Care

Maintaining urinary catheters, stoma sites, and bags to prevent infections and complications.

7. Complex Wound Care

Dressing chronic wounds, monitoring healing, and reducing the risk of infection or hospitalisation.

8. Seizure Management

Recognising seizure activity, delivering emergency medication, and ensuring participant safety.

In short, HIDPA covers the critical medical tasks that allow someone to live safely outside of hospital care.

What Support is Actually Involved?

HIDPA support is more than just “doing the task.” It’s about creating a safe environment where participants can live with confidence. That involves:

• Observation & monitoring - spotting small changes before they become big problems.

• Emergency preparedness - being ready to act if things go wrong.

• Collaboration with health professionals - following care plans, keeping families updated, and involving doctors when needed.

• Emotional support - because clinical care can feel overwhelming; reassurance matters just as much as the medical task.

Who Provides HIDPA Care?

• Not every support worker can provide HIDPA - and that’s intentional. This care requires

  specialised training and competency checks.

  You can expect:

• Trained disability support workers - assessed for competency in high-intensity supports.

• Registered & Enrolled Nurses (RNs/ENs) - for oversight, care planning, and complex interventions.

• Ongoing training & refreshers - to ensure skills remain current.

• Clear escalation protocols - staff know exactly when to involve medical

  professionals or emergency services.This ensures families can feel confident that the person supporting their loved one truly knows what they’re doing.

Safety Standards in HIDPA

• Not every support worker can provide HIDPA - and that’s intentional. This care requires

  specialised training and competency checks.

  You can expect:

• Trained disability support workers - assessed for competency in high-intensity supports.

• Registered & Enrolled Nurses (RNs/ENs) - for oversight, care planning, and complex interventions.

• Ongoing training & refreshers - to ensure skills remain current.

• Clear escalation protocols - staff know exactly when to involve medical

  professionals or emergency services.This ensures families can feel confident that the person supporting their loved one truly knows what they’re doing.

• Emergency management - CPR, first aid, and escalation training.

• Regular audits and risk assessments - so nothing slips through the cracks.

• Transparent communication - families should always know what’s happening.

Safety means more than preventing mistakes - it’s about creating trust, stability, and peace of mind.

What Can Families & Participants Expect Day-to-Day?

Here's what HIDPA feels like in practice:

• Consistency: the same familiar faces who know your routines and needs.

• Dignity: tasks done with respect, privacy, and compassion.

• Professionalism: skilled staff who stay calm under pressure.

• Openness: clear updates about health changes, incidents, or risks.

• Relief: knowing the medical load isn’t entirely on you as a family.

Case Studies: Real-Life Impact of HIDPA

• Adam’s Ventilation SupportAdam, 35, relies on invasive ventilation. Before HIDPA-trained staff, his family lived in constant fear of alarms going off. With trained workers, his parents could finally rest knowing suctioning, monitoring, and emergencies were handled professionally.

• Anna’s Seizure ManagementAnna, 17, faced daily seizures that limited her independence. HIDPA-trained carers could administer emergency medication, which allowed her to go back to school and social outings with confidence.

• Peter’s Wound CarePeter, 60, suffered from chronic wounds that often landed him in hospital. With HIDPA wound care at home, his wounds healed faster, and hospital readmissions stopped.

These stories highlight the real transformation HIDPA brings: safety, independence, and dignity.

Benefits of HIDPA

• Health outcomes improve - fewer hospital admissions, better recovery.

• Family stress reduces - knowing care is in safe hands.

• Participants gain independence - freedom to live more normally.

• Care feels dignified - not clinical, but human.

• System confidence - trained, qualified staff with clear protocols.

Why HIDPA Matters

High-Intensity Daily Personal Activities may sound like a technical term, but in reality, they’re about something very human: life, safety, and dignity.

For families, HIDPA means being able to breathe again, knowing their loved one is safe. For participants, it means living a life that feels freer and fuller - even with complex medical needs.

At WellCare Support, this is exactly what we stand for: professional, safe, and compassionate care that supports not just the person, but the whole family.