Care Finder Program

support person who can help them, or

Primary Mental Health Services

• Commissioned: Contracts have been executed with all the preferred providers with new services operational from 1 July.

Aged Care

• Commissioned: Care Finder Program is now fully operational.

• Commissioning soon: Contract negotiations with consultants are underway to support general practices with implementing quality improvement activities. These will be aimed at supporting healthy ageing and improving the management of chronic disease. Practices have been recruited through an EOI process which is now closed.

• Commissioning soon: The second round of grant funding for the Telehealth in Residential Aged Care Facilities (RACFs) program is now closed. A third round of grant funding for the program will commence shortly.

• Commissioning soon: A select tender is underway to identify a preferred provider for ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes) program supporting the management of chronic disease in primary care settings.

Youth Enhanced Service (YES)

• Commissioning soon: Contract negotiations are underway with YouTurn, the preferred provider for Youth Enhanced Services (YES). YouTurn will commence service delivery on 1 July 2023.

Head to Health

• Commissioning soon: Contract negotiations are underway with the preferred provider for the Head to Health Phone Service. Services are expected to commence 1 July 2023.

• Commissioning soon: Contract negotiations are underway with the preferred provider for the Head to Health Northern Centre. The Centre is anticipated to be operational by 1 October 2023.

Strengthening Medicare

• Commissioning soon: Grants have been offered to all general practices under the federal Strengthening Medicare initiative commencing 1 July 2023.

Urgent Care Clinics (UCC)

• Commissioning soon: Registrations of Interest have been received from general practices interested in applying to become a UCC. A tender process is now underway to select providers for the four UCCs in the Adelaide PHN region.

The Care Finder Program is now fully operational in South Australia and embedded in the aged care system nationally.

• Attending and providing support at the assessment

• Finding and short-listing aged care providers in their area

• Not have a carer or support person they feel comfortable with or trust to support them

• Be eligible for governmentfunded aged care

In addition, they should have one or more of these reasons for needing intensive support:

• Have difficulty communicating because of language or literacy problems

• Find it difficult to understand information and make decisions

Please visit the Adelaide PHN website to learn more about our commissioning services.

Care finders provide specialist and intensive assistance to vulnerable older people to understand and access aged care and connect with other relevant supports in the community. They also help find support services to improve a person’s quality of life. Care finders can help with accessing services for the first time and changing or finding new services and supports.

Care finders help people by:

• Talking to My Aged Care on their behalf and arranging an assessment

• Completing forms and explaining the aged care service agreements

• Checking in to ensure everything is okay

• Solving other challenges and connecting to supports in the community, such as health, mental health, housing and homelessness, drug and alcohol services and community groups

To receive care finder support:

• A person must have no carer or

• Be reluctant to engage with aged care services

• Be in an unsafe situation if they do not receive services Care finder organisations within SA are working together by forming a community of practice to ensure the program delivers the best support to vulnerable older people.

There are 15 care finder providers across the state. Please visit the Aged Care website to find out more about the providers in your region.