Grampians Community Health (GCH) is opening its doors to everyone needing help as Australia continues to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.
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GCH has increased its intake services to cope with additional demand from people seeking support for a range of reasons, including from family violence to depression.
Customer engagement program leader Kristy Price, who manages the intake program, said more people were needing and seeking support, with COVID-19 issues adding to people's concerns.
"We're the first port of call for anybody wanting assistance and we never turn people away," Ms Price said.
"We can offer a host of in-house services but if it's not available here, we can re-direct people to the appropriate service provider."
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Ms Price said there had been a marked upswing in calls for support over the past year.
"We have had a lot more people seeking counselling for anxiety or depression, and unfortunately also for assistance with violence in the home," she said.
"The issues are the same, but people have felt things more deeply during the pandemic. People have felt incredibly isolated and COVID has brought its own concerns with people feeling anxious about the virus, let alone the implications of the restrictions."
GCH has also noted increases in calls or presentations for mental health, homelessness, relationships, alcohol and other drug use and gambling.
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Ms Price works with two part-time intake workers who can direct people to the most appropriate services.
"We pride ourselves in being able to help people find the service they need," she said.
"GCH offers a lot of services, but for those we don't we can offer information and links to get support from other services in our regional, or national help-lines."
Ms Price urged people with any concerns to reach out if they need help personally or on behalf of someone else.
"People tend to know when they need help, but not all the time," she said.
"If you are concerned about someone else, please give us a call. We will need their consent to help them but sometimes arming yourself with the correct information can help make that initial first step."
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