Older persons health

Care Finder Service

The national care finder program commenced 1 January 2023. It's a free service that supports eligible vulnerable older people - who have no one else who can support them – to learn about, apply for, and access aged care services and other community supports.

Who is eligible to use the care finder service?

To receive care finder support, a person must:

have no carer or support person that can appropriately assist them
need help with one or more everyday tasks
be aged 65 years or older (50 years or older for Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people) OR 50 years or older (45 years or older for Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people) on a low income and homeless or at risk of being homeless
be eligible for government funded aged care support.

The care finder service is not available for everyone. Learn more about eligibility criteria here

What help can care finders provide?
Care finders can help vulnerable older people navigate the aged care system and find support services to improve their quality of life.

Which care finders are available in the Brisbane South region?
Check the map and accompanying list of service providers in the Brisbane South region.

You can refer your client to a care finder organisation by completing a referral form via the links below, or contacting the organisation directly via telephone.

Download the referral form

For more information, visit the My Aged Care website.

My Aged Care

The ‘My Aged Care’ website is the Australian Government’s online portal to support older people with their health care needs. It provides information about finding and accessing government-funded aged care services that can help people live independently at home, provide short-term care, or provides assistance to moving into an aged care home.

Phone 1800 200 422

Visit the My Aged Care website Refer a patient

My Health Journal

In 2023, data from Dementia Australia shows an estimated 1.5 million people in Australia are involved in the care of someone living with dementia.

Coping with the diagnosis and managing the complexities of dementia can be challenging for patients, as well as their families and carers.

The My Health Journal aims to help reduce some of these challenges by assisting people to communicate their health needs, preferences and values with their health care professionals.

Developed through intensive community consultation, the journal has been designed for people with mild to moderate symptoms of dementia who still reside within the community.

The journal can help people living with dementia to:

Make notes before, during and after appointments with their GP
Access helpful advice and contacts on seeking information on living with dementia
Access local support networks close by to their home (including networks for carers and family)
Keep a detailed record about their current medications
Keep prescriptions and any other important documents in a handy pocket.

The My Health Journal provides a structured, easy-to-use format to organise and access crucial details.

Get your free copy of My Health Journal by emailing agedcare@bsphn.org.au with the subject: My Health Journal

We can post a journal to you free of charge. Bulk orders can also be placed by general practices, community centres, and other health service providers.

Healthy Ageing Hubs

Brisbane South PHN are supporting community organisations in the region through Healthy Ageing Hubs. Healthy Ageing Hubs create local links to primary health care and empower older people, their families and carers, to confidently manage their own health and wellbeing in the community.

A number of organisations are currently involved in the Healthy Ageing Hubs program:

This program is designed to allow older people, their families and carers to access health information and support in convenient and familiar places that are culturally safe and appropriate. Through our Healthy Ageing Hubs, we aim to provide more opportunities for older people to make the most of existing services in their own communities and help them to access reputable health and aged care information.

Support for families and carers

The ‘Carer Gateway’ website is the Australian Government’s online portal to provide practical advice and access to supports for family members and friends caring for people with health conditions that demand a lot of support from their carer. These conditions include a disability, dementia, mental illness, chronic illness and life-limiting illnesses. Family and Carer services include assistance to connect with health services, free phone counselling, carer coaching and connection to other carers.

Carer Gateway Pallichat Mental Health services Palliative Care services

Advance care planning

The ‘My Care, My Choices’ website is the Queensland Government’s online portal promoting the important processes of advance care planning and providing information and resources to the health professionals and the community.

Advance care planning involves informing and educating your patients about their ongoing health care options specific to their needs, then supporting their decision making. Advance care planning may be general or require specific advice about an Advanced Health Directive, Enduring Power of Attorney, Statement of Choices or forms to revoke these documents.

Visit the My Care, My Choices website

General Practice Aged Care Incentive (GPACI)

The General Practice Aged Care Incentive (GPACI) aims to support older individuals residing in residential aged care homes by improving access to quality primary care services from their regular providers. Eligible providers registered with MyMedicare, capable of meeting service requirements, will receive incentives to attend to patients in residential aged care homes. Practices and providers can register for the program via MyMedicare starting July 1, 2024.

Incentive payments:

the program offers quarterly incentive payments
$300 annually per patient to the responsible provider
$130 annually per patient to the practice

These payments supplement existing Medicare Benefits Scheme (MBS) and Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA) rebates.

Eligibility and payment criteria:

Both practices and providers must meet specific eligibility criteria (per quarter) to receive incentive payments.

Patient eligibility and responsibilities:

Patients must permanently reside in a residential aged care home, register with MyMedicare and be linked to an eligible practice and provider, and have the General Practice in Aged Care Incentive indicator selected on their profile by their practice. Practices and providers are responsible for ensuring patient eligibility during registration.

Servicing requirements:

Eligible providers and practices must fulfill specific servicing requirements, including providing two eligible care planning services and two eligible regular visits per quarter, with at least one visit conducted by the responsible provider.

For more information on the program, please visit:

MyMedicare | Brisbane South PHN
General Practice in Aged Care Incentive | Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care

General practice quality improvement (QI) measures for older patients

The following quality improvement toolkits are available to support your care of older people:

The toolkits are designed…

to support medical practices to make easy, measurable and sustainable improvements
to provide best practice care for their patients
to assist practice’s to complete Quality Improvement (QI) activities using the Model for Improvement
to assist practices to meet the Practice Incentive Program Quality Improvement Incentive (PIP QI).

For more information on how Brisbane South PHN supports quality improvement in general practice, click the button below.

View QI resources

Care Finders Supplementary Needs Assessment

Brisbane South PHN is delivering the national care finder program through the Department of Health and Aged Care from January 1 2023.

The Supplementary Needs Assessment was approved on 25 November 2022 and outlines the priority areas for older people in our region.

Supplementary needs assessment

Yellow Envelopes

The Yellow Envelope is a communication tool used in clinical handover when residents of aged care facilities are transferred to and from hospital. Its aim is to improve patient safety and the quality and continuity of care.

Supply

Residential aged care services and hospitals can order a supply of Yellow Envelopes on 1300 467 265 or email agedcare@bsphn.org.au.

Alternatively, you can also download the yellow envelope template here.

Support materials

Flow chart

The clinical information flow chart illustrates how the Yellow Envelope supports clinical handover between settings of care and between care providers.

A copy of the flowchart can be downloaded here.

Online module for residential aged care and hospital services

An online module is available to support the implementation and adoption of the Yellow Envelope in practice.
Residential Aged Care and hospital staff can access the module through DiscoverPHN.

Alternatively, if you would like to embed the module into your own facility’s online professional development or Learning Management System, please contact us at agedcare@bsphn.org.au.

What can we help you with?