Job summary
This is a great opportunity for someone with lived experience of caring for a loved one with a diagnosis of dementia to join our team on Elmwood Ward & play a big part in supporting the families & carers of our patients.
The essence of this role is connection, inclusion, personalisation & giving a sense of hope based solely on your lived experience - offering emotional & practical support, building trust through reciprocity & mutuality, & showing empathy & compassion.
We are looking for someone who has resilience, someone who can stay calm when faced with distressed or upset carers & to be there for them by actively listening & hearing what they are saying & understanding what is important to them.
You will support families & carers from early admission stage through to discharge of their loved one. Initially supporting them to understand the hospital process, explaining your role & exploring with them ways of how best they can be supported by you & the team through the hospital process and beyond.
As a part of your role, you can expect to have training & supervision to support you in your role & a great approachable team working alongside you.
For any queries or informal conversations regarding this role, please contact Yvonne Banda, Ward Manager -
Main duties of the job
- Offering support sessions tailored to carer's individual needs, where the focus will be on meeting needs within the scope of your role in terms of information giving, signposting, addressing concerns, improving self-care, well-being & signposting to outside support services.
- Positively sharing your own lived experience where relevant & appropriate within conversations in ways that benefit each carer & their individual needs, whilst maintaining your own personal boundaries.
- Advocating the principles of the Triangle of care, planning & host a monthly peer support group & supporting the psychology team with Family support workshops.
- Researching support services that will benefit families & carers.
- Updating the carer information station whilst liaising closely with the team on Elmwood ward to support families & carers.
- Planning & preparing for carers week & carer's rights day - offering families & carers information based on or off the ward.
- Supporting the team, keeping them updated on Carer Matters & assisting in training staff in areas that involve carers.
- Attending online carer peer & carer lead meetings.
- Ideally, completion of IMROC Peer Support training & an awareness of the peer support principles, you will be given this training as part of your role if you have not already attended.
- A good understanding of what impacts our families & carers & an understanding of legal frameworks that affect carers.
- Completion of Carer Communication Plans.
About us
Southern Health is one of the largest NHS Foundation Trusts in the UK, specialising in mental health and learning disabilities, as well as offering physical health community-based services.
As a Trust, our footprint spans more than 200 sites across Hampshire, wholeheartedly committed to providing the best possible healthcare, reaching a range of diverse communities.
- We function as a unified team, placing patients and staff at the forefront of all our endeavours.
- Our 7,000+ workforce is skilled and diverse, with a deep commitment to ongoing staff development. We offer customised training, leadership pathways, and a plethora of career opportunities.
- We respect and listen to your thoughts, ideas, and concerns via well-established network of staff groups to increase awareness and appreciation of equality, diversity, and inclusion.
Building on all this, we are currently working closely with other local NHS Trusts to integrate all our collective community, mental health, and learning disability services across Hampshire and Isle of Wight. Our new organisation is set to launch in April 2024 and will incorporate Southern Health, Solent, Isle of Wight and Sussex Partnership Trusts.
While the new Trust will be substantially bigger, it will continue to cater to the unique needs of different communities, streamlining services and making healthcare across the county more accessible.
Join us as we embark on this exciting journey to shape the future of healthcare in Hampshire.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Further information about the Trust and this role can be found on the Job Description and Person Specification document attached.
We are happy to talk Flexible Working - all requests for flexible working options can be discussed as part of the interview process.
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
1. Completion of own wellness plan (there is no expectation for this to be shared)
2. Level of educational attainment to NVQ level 2 or equivalent experience which can include lived experience of being a carer of others experiencing mental distress and recovery
Desirable
3. Completion of peer support worker training provided by SHFT or alternative source
4. Willingness to undertake further training in line with development of peer support
5. Computer literate in Microsoft office
6. Presentation skills
Experience
Essential
7. Lived experience being a carer of others experiencing mental distress and recovery, ideally in the perinatal stages but not essential
8. Experience of being a supportive and enabling role
9. Ability to use personal experiences to support others and demonstrate empathy
10. Willingness to use the Trust IT systems
11. Able to create a safe environment and use techniques to reduce anxiety and understand conflict
12. Ability to carry out practical tasks
Desirable
13. Knowledge and experience of psychosis
14. Experience of working in a healthcare setting
15. Experience of working in a team
16. Experience or training, teaching, coaching/mentoring others
17. Experience of using a range of self-management or recovery tools and techniques
18. Experience of working across different organisational boundaries