First Step is involved in two pilot projects this year. Funded by the South Eastern Melbourne Primary Health Network, we are recruiting care coordinators to ensure more clients receive truly integrated care.
Care coordination is a central task within First Step’s model of integrated care to which any staff member can contribute (doctors, peers, lawyers). But having expert Care Coordinators with the skills and time to devote to this work will be a game-changer for many clients.
The Victorian Government’s Department of Health (Drug and Alcohol Division) is funding First Step to ensure that dozens of clients who have access to a GP will also have access to nursing, mental health nursing, and groups. Most of these clients are stabilised and supported with opiate replacement therapies which is funded by Medicare, but the other services that make up integrated care go unfunded for many people - until now.
Both pilot projects are being trialled this year. We are confident that the benefits will be clear and that the data collected, together with client interviews and testimonies, will form a strong argument for continuing these programs.
Both programs mean more people getting all the help they want and need from one team in one place.
