Eastern Melbourne PHN (EMPHN) has announced the appointment of Care Connect as the new Yarra Ranges and Knox Care Finder, helping connect older members of the community to aged care services or other community supports.
It’s part of the Care Finders program which is an Australian Government initiative that was announced in the 2021-22 Budget following the royal commission.
The Care Finders program aims to engage older members of the community who have significant difficulty accessing aged care services and are at risk of “falling through the cracks.”
EMPHN has been tasked with commissioning broader Care Finder services based on their assessment of local need.
Care Finders aim to assist older people:
– understand, access aged care and connect with other relevant supports in their community
– find specialist and intensive navigation support
– improve their quality of life across their ageing journey and enable older people to remain in their preferred place
– improve integration between the health, aged care, and other systems at the local level
Care finder services will complement, not duplicate, the My Aged Care channels that provide access support to people who are able to navigate the system for themselves. This will include at-risk older people who may or may not already be receiving aged care services, as well as potential carers or family members who need assistance on behalf of the person.
Care Connect is an independent, not-for-profit approved Home Care Package provider that provides personalised and consistent quality of care, supporting independence, freedom and comfort at home.
The services they provide include allied health services, home nursing, personal care, home maintenance, modifications assessment, shopping and meal support
Services will be scaling up over the coming months with full service from April 2023. For more information, visit the EMPHN website.
