COVID-19: Services Update

AOD Counselling
All counselling sessions will now be offered via telephone or Zoom (online video communication). Please note that after-hours/evening sessions will still be available.

AOD Care and Recovery Coordination
AOD Care and Recovery Coordination Workers will no longer be conducting outreach or in-person appointments. Care coordination will now occur via telephone or Zoom. Workers will still be able to assist clients in navigating and accessing AOD and human services over the coming months.

Therapeutic & Peer Support Groups

ReWired 2.0: Our peer – based Chemsex/PnP group ReWired 2.0 will continue to run every Tuesday evening via Zoom. Please contact the Services intake team to register and access the invite link.

A limited number of our therapeutic and peer support groups are being offered online at the moment. Head to our Calendar of Events for a listing of upcoming groups.

The Centre Clinic is continuing to operate.

All appointments are being booked as Telehealth appointments. If your GP or Nurse Practitioner deem it clinically necessary to see you, a subsequent face-to-face follow up appointment will be scheduled as soon as possible. The clinic can post or fax out prescriptions, pathology forms and certificates if required.

Telehealth appointments are bulk-billed for all Medicare Card holders. Privately-billed telehealth services are available to non-eligible patients. The clinic encourages all HIV positive and patients with chronic illnesses to avoid coming into the practice if their needs can be met by phone or online video appointments.

We ask that all clients with cold or flu symptoms to phone ahead BEFORE coming to their appointment.

Contact numbers remain the same, including:

• Support: (03) 9863 0426
• Home Care and NDIS: (03) 9863 0430
• Housing Plus: (03) 9863 0425

Social Support
All group social outings, including lunches, have been suspended. Support will be provided by regular phone contact from staff and volunteers.

Home Care
Help at home (home care, NDIS and aged care support) will continue, provided clients do not have flu-like symptoms (such as fever, sore throat and cough). Shifts are limited to a maximum of two hours.

NDIS community participation
NDIS community participation shifts are going ahead but are restricted to short local outings and remote support by phone or Zoom meetings.

Medical transport
Limited volunteer transport to medical appointments is available in cases of high need, if Telehealth is not possible. Trips will be cancelled if clients have any flu-like symptoms.

Peer support
Staff and volunteers will provide peer support by phone. Staff peer support in hospital clinics has been suspended.

Housing
Housing support will be provided by phone. If you are experiencing housing instability or homelessness, please call Housing Plus on (03) 9863 0425. Our Launch Housing worker will continue to support clients with emergency housing needs, but this will be done by phone.

Nutrition support and shopping
We are supporting clients who rely on PLC pantry and Community Support clients who do not wish to go shopping. If you need help with shopping, please call the Support office on (03) 9863 0426.

We are now providing the option of Telehealth or telephone counselling. While the format of sessions will change, all other aspects of our individual counselling service will remain the same.

For existing clients - your counsellor will be in touch to discuss these new options and your preference of format.

For those who are interested in accessing our service - you can continue to contact our Intake team on (03) 9865 6700 (Monday-Friday 9AM-5PM) or email counselling@thorneharbour.org

Therapeutic Groups
A limited number of our therapeutic and peer support groups are being offered online at the moment. Head to our Calendar of Events for a listing of upcoming groups.

Equinox is continuing to provide Medicare-billed GP services to existing patients with Medicare cards via telehealth appointments. Privately-billed telehealth services are available to non-eligible patients. Reception can provide information on request regarding private fees. We continue to operate Nurse Practitioner clinics every Thursday morning to facilitate hormone injections, vaccinations and STI screens.

We ask that any patient with cold and flu symptoms to please call the clinic BEFORE attending appointments.

Please follow our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/equinoxcentre/ for service updates and information.

All face-to-face counselling and case management appointments will be moved to telephone or Zoom online video communication. Outreach services are temporarily suspended.

We are still providing risk assessments, safety planning and referrals for clients where appropriate. After hours appointments will continue to be provided. Partner contact will also continue to support and maintain people’s safety.

Flexible Support Packages
We are also accepting and processing Flexible Support Package applications from external agencies. Agencies should be aware that processing times may be impacted and we will do our very best to limit any delays.

Revisioning
We are still doing intake assessments for participants in Revisioning. Contact revisioning@thorneharbour.org or contact our Intake Team on (03) 9865 6700.

Revisioning is being delivered via Zoom on Tuesday evenings in order to provide content to the participants. There is ongoing phone support for participants who may not have technology to access via Zoom with the facilitators for check-in and safety planning.

Making financial decisions can be challenging even at the best of times. Under the current circumstances this is especially challenging. Moneysmart.gov.au offers a ranges of advice on tackling financial issues during COVID-19. So whether your considering early acess to your super or just want some advice on getting on top of debt, check out their page about financial issues during COVID-19: https://moneysmart.gov.au/covid-19

For people living with HIV, the David Williams Fund is continuing to operate and is offering financial counselling & emergency relief over the phone or via email..

Face-to-face services at Positive Living Centre are restricted until further notice. While the site is closed, limited services will be offered via phone, email or other online options. The contact phone number for support is (03) 9863 0444.

The following services will continue with modification to delivery method:

• Client Care and Support is being offered via phone or email. A proactive plan to contact vulnerable clients on a regular basis has been implemented, and staff are prioritising incoming calls and enquiries.
• HALC (HIV Legal Service) will continue to be offered via phone or email.
• Access to Vitamart will be organised over the phone or email and delivered by post.
• The David Williams Fund (Financial Counselling and Emergency Relief) will be provided over the phone or email.
• Pantry will continue to be an important service, especially at this time. However, pantry packages will now be pre-prepared. These will include packaged goods and some fruit and vegetables. No cold or frozen items will be available. Clients may contact the service in order to prearrange a delivery of a prepared pantry.

All other PLC services will be temporarily suspended.

PRONTO! is adapting the Peer Testing service model in response to COVID-19. Modified HIV and STI testing services will resume on Monday 1 June. Regular testers will notice changes that are being introduced to ensure everyone can be tested safely.

Administrative changes:

• Until physical distancing restrictions are eased, appointments will be reduced to 15 minutes.
• All clients will be asked to wear a surgical mask and to sanitise their hands upon arrival.
• If appointments require longer than 15 minutes, the peer tester will put on a surgical mask. Please don’t take this personally!
• We will be emailing you an information sheet detailing the tests being offered, answers to frequently asked questions, general sexual health prevention information and referral information to frequently requested support services.
• We will continue to ask that you to fill in our standard electronic behavioural survey. A link to the survey website will be emailed, allowing you to complete it on your own device.

Testing changes:

• We are only offering HIV serology (blood) tests, not rapid finger prick tests. Rapid tests take 20 minutes to process and will be re-introduced again in the future, post COVID-19. This will mean that your HIV serology result will return from the lab with your other STI results. You will not be contacted for negative results unless they need re-collection or if there are lab delays
• Patients will be asked to self-collect their STI specimens including oral and anal swabs and first pass urine. Don’t worry, our peers will explain how this done!
• If you have any sexual health questions or need referrals to support services and we are short of time, our peers can arrange a phone call later to ensure that all of your questions are answered.

What hasn’t changed:

• We will only contact you about results if they are positive, need re-collecting, or if there are delays in the lab. If you haven’t heard from us after 10 days, all of your test results are negative.
• We are only offering testing services to asymptomatic (no symptoms) clients. If you are the contact of a person recently diagnosed with an STI, or if you have symptoms, you need to book in to see a GP. Our peer testers cannot provide treatment. To book in for treatment services, please book an appointment with 'PrEP Dr' in our online booking system or call reception on (03) 9416 2889
• If you have taken PrEP or PEP at any time in the last 28 days, you will need to see your prescribing doctor for HIV and STI testing.

PrEP Access and STI Treatment Services

Our PrEP GP clinic continues to operate on site and via telehealth on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays. Bulk billed Telehealth appointments are available and privately-billed telehealth services are available to non-eligible patients. Face-to-face appointments are available for clients that are symptomatic and require STI testing and treatment. To book in for STI treatment, select 'PrEP Dr' on our online booking system or call reception on (03) 9416 2889

Our bulk billed PrEP Nurse Practitioner (NP) clinic operates most Saturdays.. Privately-billed services are available to non-eligible patients. Telehealth and face to face appointments can be booked for clients that are symptomatic and require STI testing and treatment. To book, please call reception on (03) 9416 2889. This service cannot be booked on line.

All clients with cold or flu symptoms must delay testing until all symptoms have cleared.

We encourage all clients to follow our Facebook page for updates on service changes.

ReWired 2.0: Our peer – based Chemsex/PnP group ReWired 2.0 will continue to run every Tuesday evening via Zoom. Please contact the Services intake team to register and access the invite link.

Revisioning is being delivered via Zoom on Tuesday evenings in order to provide content to the participants. There is ongoing phone support for participants who may not have technology to access via Zoom with the facilitators for check-in and safety planning.

A limited number of our other therapeutic and peer support groups are being offered online at the moment. Head to our Calendar of Events for a listing of upcoming groups.

We will be operating a phone-based check-in services for people who are currently enrolled in our groups. People enrolled in any of our groups will hear from us shortly to discuss this alternative service.

The office at 56-60 King Street in Bendigo has been closed to clients.

If you need information or support this will need to be given over the phone or online via video, please call us on 03 4400 9000.

Counselling will now be delivered over the phone or via Zoom/Skype only. Counselling services can still be accessed by calling us on 03 4400 9000 and asking for Maria (Thursday and Friday).

Events have now been cancelled until further notice.

Any health promotion activity with community can be arranged by calling the Program Coordinator Claudia Validum on above numbers.

All face-to-face Training and Capacity Building activities have been postponed or moved to Zoom or similar online video platforms.

The Training and Capacity Building team are available to discuss any details necessary to reschedule any upcoming or booked face-to-face trainings. These can be rescheduled for later in the year or potentially modified for online training delivery.

We are still taking bookings and enquiries. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch via email education@thorneharbour.org