Connect to Wellbeing: Healthy Minds Intake

Intake for the Healthy Minds program has transitioned to become part of the Connect to Wellbeing service being delivered by Neami National. This transition is part of a broader intake, assessment and referral service for mental health and drug and alcohol supports across the North Coast.

Neami National are a community-based mental health provider with over 30 years’ experience supporting better mental health and wellbeing in local communities. Neami’s experience of working in close partnership with local GPs and service providers to deliver successful intake, assessment and referral services will be highly valuable to help us achieve better mental health and wellbeing on the North Coast.

What is Connect To Wellbeing?

Connect To Wellbeing is a free counselling service for people experiencing mild to moderate mental health concerns, and who are unable to afford services provided by mental health practitioners in private practice.

To be eligible people must fit into one of the priority groups and be currently experiencing financial distress.

Connect To Wellbeing Priority Groups include:

  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (ATSI).
  • People from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Backgrounds (CALD).
  • Children up to the age of 12. Children should be experiencing, or at risk of developing an emotional or behavioural disorder.
  • Homelessness or people at risk of becoming homeless.
  • Perinatal women from 20 weeks up until one year after giving birth. (PERI)
  • People at moderate risk of suicide and/or self-harm (SPS).

Eligible people receive 12 counselling sessions (18 for Suicide Prevention Service), usually 60 mins in duration, with a mental health practitioner such as a psychologist or mental health nurse or social worker. In these sessions people are provided with strategies and techniques to manage their mental health concerns.

To improve accessibility to mental health treatment, Connect To Wellbeing services are delivered in a variety of settings including community organisations, medical centres (including Aboriginal Medical Services) and the private rooms of mental health practitioners. In some cases, home visits are available.

Mental health practitioners include psychologists, mental health social workers, mental health nurses, mental health occupational therapists and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workers. Connect To Wellbeing practitioners have agreed not to charge a gap fee, thus there is no cost for the person to receive Healthy Minds services.

Connect To Wellbeing is funded by North Coast PHN.

Who can access Connect To Wellbeing?

To be eligible, the person must fit into one of the priority groups mentioned above and either have an Australian Government Health Care Card or be currently experiencing financial distress and live on the North Coast of New South Wales.

Connect To Wellbeing is for people who are experiencing mild to moderate mental health concerns such as anxiety, depression, trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder as well as other common mental health conditions.

The types of therapies provided include cognitive behaviour therapy, interpersonal therapy, psycho-education and relaxation strategies.

Reports for medico-legal court matters cannot be provided by the Connect To Wellbeing service.

How is Connect To Wellbeing accessed?

Connect To Wellbeing services are available by completing a Connect To Wellbeing referral form and returning to by fax or email.

Referrals should be faxed to our confidential fax on 02 8212 8936 or can be emailed to: [email protected]

Connect To Wellbeing Intake will then process and advise the referral organisation if unacceptable or provider if approved so then the client can be advised and appointments/further arrangements can be made.

Eligible health professionals and organisations are able to recommend that someone be referred to Connect To Wellbeing. Connect To Wellbeing Practitioners are unable to self-refer.

  • General Practitioner
  • Mental Health Nurses
  • Psychologists
  • Psychiatrics
  • Paediatricians
  • Obstetricians
  • Maternal and child health nurses
  • School Psychologists / Counsellors
  • School Principals / Deputy Principals
  • Directors of Early Childhood Services
  • Hospital Accident and Emergency Department staff
  • Hospital Acute Mental Health team
  • Hospital ward discharge staff
  • Community Support Organisations (Social Workers/Case Workers)
  • Medical Officers in non-government organisations

On the referral form, a preferred Connect To Wellbeing practitioner can be nominated from the practitioner lists at the top of this page.

Alternatively, Neami National can select an appropriate practitioner for the person seeking psychological support dependent on locality and practitioner clinical interests.

When suicide is the prime mental health concern, referrals can be made to the Connect To Wellbeing Suicide Prevention Service on the same single referral form. The service provides intensive support for a six-month period with up to 18 sessions. People can access this service without a mental health treatment plan in place but must visit their GP for a mental health treatment plan within 3 months of referral. Eligible people can then be stepped across to one of the Connect To Wellbeing Priority Groups or continue care under Better Access (Medicare).

In line with standard processes, a progress report from the mental health practitioner should be provided, supporting a K10+ after six sessions, and may include a recommendation for an additional six sessions.

Community organisations are often well placed to identify people who could benefit from psychological support. Community organisations with a Connect To Wellbeing practitioner on-site are able to complete an application for a referral. Other community organisations that would benefit from having a mental health practitioner on-site should contact the Connect To Wellbeing team using the contact details below.

For all general enquiries regarding referrals please call 1300 160 339.

For provider enquiries relating to payment, contract management including insurance (credential requests), please contact North Coast PHN on 1300 137 237.

Contact Neami National:

Phone:  1300 160 339
Fax: 02 8212 8936
Email: [email protected]


Download Referral Form

Medical Software Templates

Medical Director Referral Form (RTF)

Best Practice Referral Form (RTF)

Crisis and Emergency Services

Connect To Wellbeing is not a crisis service. Please contact one of the below services that can offer assistance 24 hours a day.

Triple 0 (Ambulance, Fire, Police) 000

Lifeline 13 11 14

Kids Helpline 1800 551 800

Suicide Helpline 1300 651 251

Suicide Call Back Service 1300 659 467

For provider enquiries relating to payment, contract management including insurance (credential requests), please continue to contact North Coast PHN on 1300 137 237 for now. Please do not call direct staff lines.

Agency: Neami National

Regions:

Regionwide (North Coast)

Phone: 1300 160 339

Aged Care Disaster Management Planning

Strategic Priority Area: One team

North Coast is identified as the region most likely to be impacted by climate change in Australia and also forecasted greatest growth in those 65+.

Healthy North Coast takes a lead role in ensuring the older population and the sector that supports them are prepared for, can respond to and recover from disasters and other emergencies.

We have led eight regional disaster management capacity building workshops, bringing together SES, community organisations and the aged care sector.

We have also developed disaster preparedness tip sheets for both residential and community aged care providers.

Voluntary Assisted Dying

Strategic Priority Area: One team

In May 2022, the NSW Parliament passed the Voluntary Assisted Dying Act 2022. Effective from Tuesday, 28 November 2023, eligible people have the choice to access voluntary assisted dying. 

Healthy North Coast has developed a webpage for both health professionals and consumers, with links to available information and resources.

Living with Dementia resources

Strategic Priority Area: No one is left behind

Healthy North Coast has worked with people living with dementia, their families and local service providers to develop an information booklet that will help them connect with local and national supports along their journey.

The booklet includes commonly asked questions for people to ask their GP and/or specialist.

The resource is available in digital and printed copies, with more than 5,000 distributed across the region. An e-version is available to clinicians via the Dementia and Cognitive Impairment HealthPathway.

Deteriorating Resident Triage Tool Pilot

Strategic Priority Area: One team

The Deteriorating Resident Response Tool (DRRT) has been developed to guide RN’s in Residential Aged Care homes (RACHs) to better understand, anticipate and make clinical decisions responding to the deteriorating health of residents.

The objective of the DRRT is to give RACH staff clear information to triage and provide appropriate care for a range of residents’ health conditions, and, in turn, prevent unnecessary presentations to ED.

The tool has been designed together with a specialist geriatrician, consulting with stakeholders such as Residential Aged Care Managers, NSW Ambulance, GPs, and experts from Mid and North Coast LHDs.

The pilot commences in March with four participating RACHs. Evaluation measures will include effectiveness in building RN confidence and reported reduction in unnecessary hospitalisations. Findings will inform a future planned, region-wide implementation.

North Coast Care Finders Program

Strategic Priority Area: No one is left behind

The Care Finders program is a free region-wide service to support vulnerable older people who have no-one else to help them, to learn about, apply for and set up support services.

Care finders can help people understand what aged care services are available, set up an assessment, and find and choose services. They also help people with access to other supports in the community, both accessing services for the first time and changing or finding new services and supports.

On the North Coast, Healthy North Coast has commissioned four organisations to provide this important service: EACH, Carexcell, Lifetime Connect and Footprints.

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Psychological services in residential aged care homes

Strategic Priority Area: Improving Lives Now

Healthy North Coast commissions two service providers to deliver psychological therapies and supports for older people with, or at risk of developing, a mental illness and who are living in residential aged care homes (RACHs).

The aim of the program is to both provide direct support to residents and their families and carers, as well as upskill the RACH workforce to respond to the needs of residents presenting with mental health concerns.

Social prescribing (Healthy Me Healthy Community)

Strategic Priority Area: Securing a Healthier Future

Delivered by Feros Care, the Healthy Me, Healthy Community program aims to build individual and community connections to reduce loneliness and improve wellbeing in Port Macquarie.

The program helps people to connect with community, activities, supports and services that address their broader social determinants of health, as an alternative or supplement to a clinical approach.

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Digital Health in Residential Aged Care

Strategic Priority Area: Improving Lives Now

Timely access to primary health care professionals, whether through face-to-face consultation or telehealth, is recognised as an issue for many Residential Aged Care Homes (RACHs), that in some cases can lead to potentially preventable hospitalisations. RACHs require adequate telehealth facilities to support access to virtual consultations for their residents.

Project goals

  • Assist participating RACHs to have appropriate telehealth facilities and equipment to enable their residents to virtually consult when needed with their primary health care professionals, specialists and other clinicians. 
  • Provide training to participating RACH staff to support them to have the capabilities to assist their residents in accessing virtual consultation services.
  • Encourage increased use of My Health Record by RACHs, to improve the availability and secure transfer of resident’s health care information between RACHs, primary care and acute care settings.
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Greater Choice at Home Palliative Care Program

Strategic Priority Area: Improving Lives Now

Aims to provide people who have life limiting conditions the opportunity to exercise choice and receive high quality care at home, harnessing improved and better coordinated supports and services that meet their individual needs.

Program objectives:

  • Improve access to palliative care at home and support end-of-life care systems and services (in primary health care and community care)
  • To enable the right care at the right time and in the right place (to reduce unnecessary hospitalisation)
  • Generate and use data to support continuous improvement of services across sectors
  • Use available technologies to support flexible and responsive palliative care at home, including in the after-hours.

These objectives will contribute to achieving the following intended overarching outcomes of:

  • Improved capacity and responsiveness of services to meet local needs and priorities
  • Improved patient access to quality palliative care services in the home
  • Improved coordination of care for patients across health care providers and integration of palliative care services in their region.

Education & training funding elibility

Funding is open to all primary care providers within disaster affected communities across the Healthy North Coast footprint.

Workforce Locum support and R&R funding criteria

  • Available to primary care services in disaster impacted communities within the Healthy North Coast footprint.
  • Available to support short-term workforce coverage, allowing clinicians to rest and recover.
  • Workforce-support funding in total is capped for each site, over a 12-month period:
    • $10k for GPs and/or
    • $5K for nursing and/or
    • $5k administration support and/or
    • $5K allied/pharmacy and other.
  • Funding is not to be used to fill gaps in staffing that have not been able to recruit to and not to replace existing staff.
  • Healthy North Coast will assess requirements and approve available funding directly with the service requesting support.
  • Priority will be given to sites that have immediate, short-term workforce support needs.
  • Requests will be reviewed and supported on a case-by-case basis.
  • Program funding administered via RCTI Agreement (Recipient Created Tax Invoice) to be paid monthly, or on completion of the placement (whichever comes first).
  • Practices will be required to complete a request for payment form monthly, or on completion of the placement (whichever occurs first).

Wellbeing Flexible Funding Criteria & Eligibility

  • Open to all primary care providers within disaster affected communities across the Healthy North Coast footprint.
  • Activity must be purposeful, with the aim of increasing the wellbeing of your team.
  • Requests will be assessed on a case-by-case basis, with funding allocated based on team size.*
  • Following approval by Healthy North Coast, funding will be administered via RCTI Agreement (Recipient Created Tax Invoice) upon providing proof of expenses.
  • Funding cannot be used for the purchase of alcohol, or any other goods or services where the vendor cannot quote their Australian Business Number.
  • Planned activities must occur prior to 30th June 2024.
  • Funding will not be available for retrospective activities.
*Team Size
(Total staff and contractors)
Funding Available
Small (1-5)$500-$1500
Medium (6-20)$1500-$4000
Large (>20)$4000-$5000