Dec

01

2021

Building your service capacity to work with LGBTQ+ people

Here are some resources to build your service capacity in working confidently and competently with LGBTQ+ community members.

  • Say It Out Loud is a website that encourages LGBTQ+ communities to have healthy relationships, get help for unhealthy relationships and support friends experiencing abuse. Say It Out loud outlines practice considerations for service providers about supporting LGBTQ+ people experiencing violence, as well as offering excellent resources for community members. To add your service to the service directory, please submit your listing.
  • Pride in Prevention: A guide to primary prevention of family violence experienced by LGBTIQ communities summarises the current available evidence on the drivers of family violence experienced by LGBTIQ communities and provides recommendations for priority interventions to address it. This project forges new ground in the primary prevention of family violence experienced by LGBTIQ communities, seeking to address critical evidence gaps, strengthen understanding of the drivers of violence, and build expertise for both LGBTQ+ organisations and family violence primary prevention organisations to effectively deliver evidence-based programs. Download the guide from Rainbow Health Victoria.
  • A gap has been identified in resources relating to domestic violence as experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander LGBTQ+ people. Although not LGBTQ+ specific, the Warawarni-gu Guma (Healing Together) Statement provides an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspective on domestic and family violence and outlines principles for engaging respectfully with First Nations people and communities, data sovereignty and sets out a trauma-informed pathway forward for addressing DFV in Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander communities. Read the statement on the ANROWS website.

Upcoming free webinars and trainings

Addressing Sexual Violence and Abuse Impacting LGBTIQ+ Communities 

Monday 6 December, 2:30 pm – 3:30 pm

Organiser: Rape & Domestic Violence Services Australia

Led by informed experts in collaboration with ACON, the conversation will include public/street harassment, discussion around different kinds of sexual violence experiences and how myths/stereotypes can make it difficult to talk about sexual violence and access support.

Online course launch: Building service capacity to work with LGBTIQ+ forcibly displaced people 

Thursday, 9 December 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm

Organiser: Migration Council of Australia

This live-streamed online event will include a panel discussion with Q&A and will launch a new online training module designed to increase the capacity of various community services in providing affirming, safe and inclusive support for LGBTIQ+ forcibly displaced people.

ACON Pride Training’s Sexual Assault in LGBTQ Communities eLearning

Co-designed with health and wellbeing service providers and LGBTQ community members affected by sexual assault. This training will cover a range of areas to broaden your understanding of LGBTQ+ people and communities so that you can not only be a better ally, but also more inclusive in your work, services, and programs. The first 1,000 services providers can register for the free e-modules.

Community resources

Here are some excellent resources for you to share with the community.

  • Say It Out Loud encourages LGBTQ+ communities to have healthy relationships, get help for unhealthy relationships and support friends experiencing abuse. There is a healthy relationship quiz, information for family, friends and community, responses to violence and a map that helps community members find LGBTQ+ friendly services closest to them.
  • Information about domestic and violence specifically written for transgender and gender diverse people, including sistergirls and brotherboys, can be found on TransHub.
  • You can preview, download, print or order ACON’s free LGBTQ+ resources including the Bystander Toolkit, Factsheet for Professionals, Another Closet booklet other community information resources via Say It Out Loud. (Please note that due to COVID-19 limiting office access, there may be delays sending physical resources.)
  • The Safe Relationships Project through the Inner City Legal Centre provides support to LGBTQ+ people across NSW and can assist clients in accessing legal representation and to apply for Apprehended Domestic Violence Orders (ADVO) or Apprehended Personal Violence Orders (APVO) to help put an end to the violence they are experiencing.

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.

icon with person and hands

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.

icon with person and hands

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.
icon with person and hands

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