Care Finder

Care finders support vulnerable older people who would not be able to arrange services without intensive support and do not have a family member or friends who can help.

Care finder services are provided at no cost as they are fully funded through Primary Health Networks.

Is this for me?

This service is for people whose life experience – such as active military service, homelessness or substance abuse – have seen them age more quickly than other people. To be eligible for this program, you must be aged 65 years or older or 50 years or older and on a low income, homeless, or at risk of being homeless. You might have a low income or have insecure housing and face challenges finding a place to live.

Who can receive assistance from a care finder?

Care finders are not for everyone. They specifically help vulnerable older Australians who need intensive assistance to access aged care and other supports.

To receive care finder support, a person must:

• have no carer or support person who can help them, or
• not have a carer of support person they feel comfortable or trust to support them, and
• be eligible for government-funded 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
• be reluctant to engage with aged care or government
• be in an unsafe situation if they do not receive services.

How does the service work?

If someone requires this support, then a local organisation can connect them with a dedicated care finder. The care finder will meet with them, usually in person. This can be at their home or another place they choose. The care finder will ask questions to understand the person’s situation and support them to work through the steps to address their needs. What help can care finders provide?

Care finders can help people understand what aged care services are available, set up an assessment and find and choose services. They also help people with access to other supports in the community. They can help with both accessing services for the first time and changing or finding new services and supports.

They can help someone with:

• talking to My Aged Care on their behalf and arranging an assessment
• attending and providing support at the assessment
• finding and short-listing aged care providers in their area
• completing forms and understanding aged care service agreements
• checking-in once services are up and running to make sure everything is OK
• 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.

They will ask some questions about why the person needs help from a care finder.

The person must give consent for you to provide any information about them to the care finder organisation. It is best if the person is with you when you make the call.

Contact the Northside Team on 02 6171 8000 for a confidential and friendly chat about getting started.