Dec

16

2021

Mental health support for the holidays

Taking care of your mental health can be a challenge during the busy holiday season.

A number of organisations offer support and education for people with mental ill-health, their families and carers throughout Australia.

With the holiday season upon us, Healthy North Coast has compiled a list of mental health support services you can refer patients to over the festive season.

Healthy North Coast-funded service connecting you to mental health support, information, diagnosis and treatment advice, including prescriptions.

Available Monday to Friday, 8:30 am – 5 pm.

Closed public holidays.

1300 160 339
nc.connecttowellbeing.org.au

Suicide Call Back Service

Support for anyone thinking about suicide.
1300 659 467

Lifeline

Support for anyone having a personal crisis.
13 11 14

Beyond Blue

Support for anyone feeling anxious or depressed.
1300 22 4636

Kids Helpline

Counselling for young people aged 5 to 25.
1800 55 1800

MensLine Australia

Support for men with emotional or relationship concerns.
mensline.org.au
1300 78 99 78

Open Arms

Counselling for veterans and their families.
1800 011 046

Mental Health Line – NSW Health

Offers mental health professionals who will assist by asking questions to determine if you or, the person you are concerned about, needs ongoing mental health care and how urgently it is needed.
1800 011 511

1800 Respect

Sexual assault, family and domestic violence counselling line for any Australian who has experienced or is at risk of family and domestic violence and/or sexual assault.
1800 737 732

Alcohol Drug Information Service NSW

Support with own or another person’s alcohol and other drugs use, including information, counselling and referral to services in NSW. Webchat also available from Monday to Friday, 8:30 am – 5 pm including public holidays.
1800 250 015

Blue Knot Foundation Helpline

Support, education and resources for the families and communities of adult survivors of childhood trauma and abuse. Available 7 days a week between 9 am and 5 pm, including public holidays.
1300 657 380
[email protected]

Butterfly Foundation’s National Helpline

Confidential service that provides information, counselling and treatment referral for people with eating disorders and body image and related issues. Available 8 am to midnight, 7 days a week, via phone, online chat or email. Closed public holidays.
1800 33 4673
[email protected]

Counselling Online

Predominately online counselling for people concerned with their own or others AOD use. Other avenues for support are: support by email, tools such as self-assessments and self-help modules, an SMS service to keep people focused and on track, an online community forum to connect with peers for support.

eheadspace

Online and telephone support and counselling to young people aged 12 to 25 and their families and friends. Available 9 am – 1 am, 7 days a week, chat online or email including public holidays.
1800 650 890

FriendLine

Supports anyone who’s feeling lonely, needs to reconnect or just wants a chat. Phone or chat online with trained volunteers. All conversations with FriendLine are anonymous. Available 7 days a week from 10 am to 8pm, including public holidays.
1800 424 287

MindSpot

Telephone and online service for people with anxiety, stress, low mood or depression. It provides online assessment and treatment for anxiety and depression. MindSpot is not an emergency or instant response service. Closed public holidays.
1800 614 434

QLife

Telephone and web-based services for peer support and referral for people wanting to talk about a range of issues including sexuality, identity, gender, bodies, feelings or relationships. Available 3 pm – 12 am, 7 days a week including public holidays.
1800 184 527

PANDA (Perinatal Anxiety & Depression Australia)

Supports women, men and families across Australia affected by anxiety and depression during pregnancy and in the first year of parenthood. Available 9 am – 7:30 pm, Monday to Friday. Closed public holidays.
1300 726 306

SANE Australia

Support for anyone in Australia affected by complex mental health issues, as well as their friends, family members and health professionals. Phone or chat online, 10 am – 10pm, Monday to Friday including public holidays.
1800 18 7263

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