Linkages Brochure - Ballarat Health Services

Linkages:
Central Highlands Coordinated
Community Care
Linkages: Central Highlands Coordinated
Community Care provides case management
and an arrangement of services to support an
individual’s choice to remain living at home.
Services provided promote the individual’s
dignity and will contribute to his or her
physical, emotional and social wellbeing.
We service the City of Ballarat and the
Moorabool, Hepburn and Golden Plains
shires.
We are approved providers for:
• Linkages packages
• Community Aged Care Packages (CACPs)
and
• Extended Aged Care at Home (EACH)
packages.
Packages provided and eligibility:
• Linkages
To be eligible for a Linkages package the
individual must have a definite desire and
commitment to stay at home and fall within
the Home and Community Care (HACC) target
group.
The HACC target group consists of:
• Older and frail people, with moderate,
severe or profound disabilities, and
• Younger people with moderate, severe
or profound disabilities.
The individual will be assessed as having
complex care needs that cannot be met
alone through the normal suite of HACC
services which are provided by the local
council or shires. A Linkages package is a case
management program that has the ability to
provide, but is not limited to, personal care,
social support, transport to appointments,
home help, meal preparation and gardening.
• CACP
To be eligible for a CACP the individual must
be assessed by the Aged Care Assessment
Service (ACAS) requiring at least low level
residential care. A CACP provides lowintensity
community care services to assist
frail older Australians to remain living in their
own homes. The types of services that may
be provided as part of a CACP include case
management, personal care, social support,
transport to appointments, home help, meal
preparation and gardening.
• EACH
To be eligible for an EACH package the
individual must be assessed by ACAS as
generally requiring high level residential care.
EACH packages are individually tailored and
provide the services of a CACP with additional
care to address increased needs. Additional
care may include allied health and registered
nursing assistance, the provision of assistive
equipment, 24-hour on-call access, continence
aids, assistance with oxygen and or enteral
feeding, as well as other specific services
to enable the individual to remain in the
community.
What is case management?
Case management is a client-focused process
that supports clients to reach their optimal
level of health and well being. The actions
of case managers address the specific needs
of clients and balance these needs within the
available resources.
Case Managers respond to client-identified
needs and help them select services and
resources of the highest possible quality.

Wherever possible, case management should
facilitate the development of the client’s skills
to take control of their own health needs so
that they are able to demonstrate control
over their own lives. (National Standards of
Practice for Case Management, CMSA 2004).
Who can refer?
Any person can make a referral to Linkages:
Central Highlands Coordinated Community
Care.
How to refer?
• For Linkages, CACP and EACH packages
please phone Ballarat Health Services’
Central Intake office on 5320 6690.
Contact details:
Office hours: Monday to Friday 9am – 5pm
Location: 106 Market Street, Ballarat
(corner Armstrong Street)
Postal address: PO Box 199, Ballarat 3353
Phone: 5320 3010
Fax: 5332 9730
Email:
Web:
linkages@bhs.org.au
www.bhs.org.au
• Wherever possible, referrals must be
made with the consent of the person
being referred.
Waiting list
There may be a waiting period depending on
the demand for packages at the time. Once
ACAS or Central Intake process the referral,
our wait list coordinator will prioritise clients
for a package of care.
Care recipient’s contribution fee
In most cases each client will contribute a
small amount to their care by providing a care
recipient’s contribution fee.
The State and Federal governments specify
the manner in which fees are calculated.
However, no client will be disadvantaged
if they experience difficulties contributing
financially to their care.
Revised January 14, 2011. Manager, Linkages.