Patient Services at ACHH
At the Australian Centre for Heart Health, we provide specialist behavioural and psychological support to people who have had an acute cardiac event, and their families. Our patient services are collectively referred to as the Cardiac Wellbeing Program. Everything we do in the Cardiac Wellbeing Program is evidence-based, drawing on the Centre’s own world-leading research and that of other experts in cardiac-related behavioural and psychological support. The Centre has three major components to its Cardiac Wellbeing Program, all of which are available Australia-wide. These are the Cardiac Counselling Clinic, Back on Track, and Teleheart. You can learn more about each of these services below.
The Cardiac Counselling Clinic provides specialist face-to-face or online psychological support for cardiac patients, particularly those experiencing anxiety, depression or post-traumatic stress, as well as those struggling with lifestyle change. The Clinic provides support through a team of cardiac psychologists and mental health social workers.
From 1 July 2023 the following pricing model will apply:
Clients eligible for concession (on healthcare card or DVA card) will be bulk billed.
Clients not eligible for concession will pay $175 per session, of which $92.90 will be rebated by Medicare with a mental health treatment plan, leaving an out of pocket expense of $82.10 per session.
Clients experiencing significant financial strain will be offered a reduced rate.
Back on Track is a free online program designed to help people make lifestyle changes and, in doing so, reduce the risk of another event. The program is accessible anywhere and anytime on computer, tablet or smartphone. The program includes sessions on healthy eating, increasing physical activity, smoking cessation, and emotional recovery. It is designed to give people self-management strategies, including clarifying personal goals and values, weighing up pros and cons of change, identifying barriers and enablers, and making ‘action plans’ for what to do, and ‘coping plans’ for how to do it.
Teleheart is a free 5-session telephone-delivered program also designed to support behavioural and emotional recovery. Teleheart uses strategies such as collaborative goal setting, developing action and coping plans, assessing pros and cons, self-monitoring of thoughts and emotions, identifying and engaging required support, and goal-review and renewal. Clients are encouraged to select the lifestyle areas they wish to work on, and session delivery is tailored to their readiness to change. Session duration is 20-45 minutes. The telephone sessions are delivered by expert cardiac lifestyle counsellors.
To download a printable version of the information about our patient services, click here.
More information for health professionals can be found here.
Behaviour change is not easy. That’s why we have designed these patient services to support you in your recovery journey. To watch a recent information session we delivered on supporting behaviour change, click below: