HACC Funded Disability Services for under 65s

Disability Services for Younger People

The Home and Community Care Program (HACC) provides support for people under 65 who identify as living with a disability including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Services are offered to:

• young people with moderate, severe or profound disabilities, and
• their unpaid carers.

The aim of the HACC program is to maximise their independence, well-being and connections to the local community.

AccessHC offers a range of allied health and community services to:

• individuals who qualify for HACC funding and
• organisations who wish to offer HACC funded services to their clients.

We can help NDIS participants access HACC funded services to help treat their health issues not relating to their disability. Please note it is not the role of HACC to supplement inadequate levels of NDIS supports in a participant’s plan.

Government subsidised services open to HACC eligible adults include:

• Happy Living+ (a health and wellness program for people with long term health problems)
• Dietetics
• Podiatry
• Physiotherapy
• Occupational therapy
• Speech therapy
• Community programs.

For a list of community programs available please refer to this PDF document.

Getting Support – Next Steps for Clients

For a Happy Living+ program please call on 9810 3000 and select option 1. You also email us on recept.rich@accesshc.org.au.

For Dietetics, Podiatry, Physiotherapy, Speech Pathology and Occupational Therapy services, please call our Intake on 9810 3000 to:

• confirm that we can use HACC funding to cover the cost of your treatment and
• organise an appointment.

HACC services are available either free of charge or with a small out-of-pocket fee for eligible participants, depending on their income.

To enrol in our online Community programs please contact us at info@hch.org.au or info@trentwood.org.au or call us on 9819 5758. Programs run throughout the year except on public holidays and over the Christmas period. Small fees  apply for HACC participants and are paid by the semester.

Arranging Support – Next Steps for Partner Organisations

For a no-obligation discussion about Allied Health outreach services we offer, please contact Debra Benger, Senior Manager Allied Health on 03 9810 3040 or by email: Debra.Benger@accesshc.org.au

We also have a number of A4 posters available for display.

Happy Living+

Happy Living+ is a self-managed coaching service that helps to build skills and confidence in people with long term (chronic) illnesses.

It covers self-management abilities such as:

• Healthy eating
• Being physically active
• Achieving emotional well-being
• Coping with stress and setbacks
• Understanding and management of health conditions & medicines
• Managing symptoms and what causes them (triggers)
• Navigating the healthcare system
• Connecting with your local community – helping you start a new hobby, meet up with family or reconnect you to your local community by taking part in walking groups, crafting and other social activities.

Participants will receive regular telephone-based health coaching calls from their dedicated health coach.

Additional Information for Partner Organisations

All health coaches are qualified Registered Nurses trained in motivational interviewing and behavioural activation.

Dietetics

• See you in the clinic, in your home or at another location in the community that works for you and is an appropriate venue
• Assess you and your needs and design a treatment plan for you
• If you live in a community home, we can help you and the staff at your home to design a nutrition plan to help you achieve your goals
• Support clients with a wide variety of chronic diseases such as malnutrition, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, gastrointestinal conditions, weight concerns and more
• Provide education and support to families and community support workers.

You may be eligible to have dietitian support included in an NDIS plan. We can assess you and write a report to take to your NDIS Planning meeting to support your need to have a dietitian involved in achieving your goals.

Podiatry

Our team of Podiatrists are foot health experts who will assess, diagnose and help you to manage your foot conditions. We will personalise our treatment approach for you, as we understand that different podiatry issues require different solutions. Good foot health is important for people of all ages and no issue is too big or too small.

Our Podiatry team comply with strict medical standard infection control guidelines. After seeing our clients, we carefully clean all surfaces in the room. We also clean used instrument sets and sterilise them using medical grade sterilisation procedures and equipment. Some of our items are single-use only and these are disposed in special clinical waste bins.

We can provide comprehensive foot care including:

Skin & nail problems, including corns and callous treatment. Making sure your skin and nails are comfortable and healthy is vital to maintaining healthy feet. You can maintain optimum foot health by attending regular appointments with one of our Podiatrists. We can provide you with and teach you or your carer how to use a tailored kit to keep your feet in great shape between appointments.

Toe deformities/bunions. We can customise a plan to help reduce your pain and manage these conditions.

Diabetes foot assessments. People with diabetes are more prone to developing foot problems and therefore need to take extra care with their feet. Our Podiatrists are trained in treating foot problems resulting from Diabetes. It is recommended that all people with diabetes have their feet checked every year using a proper diabetic foot assessment process.

Wound management. If left untreated, wounds can become worse and lead to a serious problem. We will help direct you in the best way to treat and manage your wound.

Ingrown nails: Don’t let your nail problems drag on. Our experienced team can help treat your ingrown nails, including conservative and surgical options, so you are pain free in no time.

Foot pain. If you are experiencing foot pain of any degree, don’t suffer in silence. Come and see us for an assessment and we will work together to put tailored management in place.

Orthotics. Foot orthoses (orthotics) are shoe inserts designed to support your feet and make sure all the structures in your foot are in a good position.  By doing this they help to improve the function of the foot and in many cases also treat or relieve pain. There are different types of foot orthotics available.  As qualified podiatrists we are able to assess and work with you to ensure you have the best orthotic for your problem and your budget.

Children’s feet. We understand that taking your children to the podiatrist may be a new experience. You can trust us to safely assess your child’s feet. Common reasons you may bring your child to see us include, unusual walking patterns, frequent tripping, curly toes, warts and ingrown nails.

Footwear assessments – are you wearing the right shoes for what you want to do? Having a podiatrist assess your feet and walking or running patterns is one of the best ways to ensure your shoe choice provides the best support, comfort and durability required for daily wear or your chosen activity.

Do I need a referral to see a podiatrist? No referral is required however we do accept referrals from GPs, Specialists, other Health Professionals, NDIS providers, My Aged Care and Aged Care Packages.

Where can you see one of our podiatrists? 

• Ashburton
• Hawthorn
• Doncaster East
• Richmond
• Greythorn Community Hub ( currently closed due to COVID-19)
• At home – we provide home based podiatry services if needed in Boroondara, Yarra and Manningham.

Additional Information for Partner Organisations

We can also provide a coordinated care with disability housing and other disciplines. This would suit organisations or NDIS Support Co-ordinators seeking to add podiatry to their service portfolio:

Supported Independent Living (SIL)

Services can be offered on an outreach basis with a podiatrist/s having a designated day/s to provide service on location at a SIL facility. A day activity program offering clients access to a high quality, consistent service could still be offered if the client transitions to NDIS. We can write a report for clients to take to their NDIS plan assessment or review to support their need to have podiatry included in their NDIS plan.

Organisations offering NDIS services or NDIS Support Co-ordinators.

If your clients qualify for NDIS, but do not have podiatry in their current plan and cannot make low/out of pocket HACC payments, we can provide them with a clinic-based service under Medicare Team Care Arrangements until included in NDIS plan. We can write a report for clients to take to their NDIS plan assessment or review, to support their need to have podiatry included in their NDIS plan.

We can work with other organisations who see or help clients that would benefit from HACC funded podiatry.

Outreach and home visit services are provided in the Cities of Boroondara, Manningham and Parts of the City of Yarra.

Physiotherapy

Our physiotherapists focus on improving physical health conditions while minimising the risk of their occurrence.

Do you find it more difficult to do your day-to-day chores or enjoy your hobbies?  Have you just come back from hospital and find it difficult to move around? Are you in pain due to a recent injury, accident or a fall?

Our team members will take time to listen to your health needs, assess your condition and create an individual plan to help you feel better. Our staff have a variety of qualifications and experience, including some with Post Graduate Masters of Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy qualifications and Pain Management experience. We can help you with recovery and rehabilitation of the following health conditions:

• Chronic pain, arthritis and pain in muscles and joints
• Walking or mobility difficulties
• Reduced balance or falls
• Reduced physical condition, muscle weakness and joint stiffening
• New injuries and flare ups
• Men’s or women’s health problems.

We can also create exercise programs for diabetes or for people with breathing difficulties.

We accept referrals from doctors, other services, people referring themselves, or family or friends referring on behalf of a loved one.

Services are offered in the clinics conveniently located in: Doncaster East, Richmond and Hawthorn.

Additional Information for Partner Organisations

Our physiotherapy services include:

• Individual clinic appointments
• Home visit appointments (within our catchment area)
• Group programs – we have a variety of programs, both short term and ongoing. They are currently being run face-to-face or through telehealth. Clients need to have a computer with camera, iPad or smart phone to be able to participate in telehealth sessions.

Key audience:

• NDIS clients who have a health related need that not included in their NDIS Plan e.g. acute injury
• People under 65 years of age who are not eligible for NDIS with reduced mobility, function or pain.

Outreach services are provided in the Cities of Boroondara, Manningham and Yarra.

Occupational Therapy

Our occupational therapists work with clients who live at home, to enable and/or improve their independence with day-to-day activities.

We support many client groups, including individuals:

• Who require functional assessment and professional reports to support NDIS applications
• Under 65 years of age who are not eligible for NDIS with concerns such as reduced mobility, chronic pain, fatigue, fibromyalgia, depression, anxiety
• With new or acute health needs separate to the management of their disability which would not be covered by their NDIS plan
• Who are not on NDIS but need palliative management.

We currently offer telehealth or face-to-face appointments. If booking a telehealth appointment, clients need to have a computer with camera, iPad or smart phone to be able to participate. Our Wheel Chair Assessment Clinic at Balwyn North site is currently closed but will reopen when Covid19 restrictions allow.

Our in-house services are provided in: Doncaster East, Balwyn North (currently closed; to reopen when COVID-19 restrictions allow it), Richmond and Hawthorn.

Additional Information for Partner Organisations

We welcome an opportunity to collaborate with other organisations or NDIS Support Coordinators to provide HACC funded services to similar client groups.

Occupational therapy services include:

• Telehealth phone or video consults
• Home visit appointments
• Wheelchair clinic

Outreach services provided in the Cities of Boroondara, Manningham and Yarra.

Speech Therapy

AccessHC’s speech therapists assist our clients to assess and manage any swallowing or communication concerns. Some of those supports are funded by the HACC program.

Our HACC funded speech therapy services are also available to partner organisations or NDIS Support co-ordinators looking after individuals:

• That require professional reports to support NDIS applications, or urgent intervention while transitioning to NDIS. This can be related to swallowing, meal time profiles, or communication support
• Under 65 years of age who are not eligible for NDIS or who have atypical presentations that do not qualify for NDIS. This may include some voice referrals or unexplained dysphagia
• With new or acute health needs separate to the management of their disability, which would not be covered by their NDIS plan
• Who are not on NDIS but need palliative management.

We currently offer telehealth or face-to-face appointments. If booking a telehealth appointment, clients need to have a computer with camera, iPad or smart phone to be able to participate.

Our in-house services are provided in: Doncaster East and Hawthorn.

Additional Information for Partner Organisations

We welcome an opportunity to collaborate with other organisations or NDIS Support Coordinators to provide HACC funded services to similar client groups.

Our Speech Pathology services include:

• Clinic or home-based appointments
• Telehealth phone or video consults.

Outreach services are offered in the Cities of Boroondara, Mannigham and Yarra.