Health Engagement Worker
* Brighton
* Full-time
* Closes: 10-02-2025 00:00 AM
* Interview week: 16 Feb 2025
The role of Health Engagement Worker will involve supporting a caseload of service users that are experiencing homelessness. The role requires the use of specialist knowledge and relationship skills to influence service users with varying degrees of mental health, addiction and trauma related issues to engage with health services.
This will include advocacy in registering them for medical services and accompanying them to appointments; assisting them in addressing all aspects of physical and mental health or substance addiction needs, as well as advocating for them to get access to housing and social security benefits. Working collaboratively with our partners Arch Healthcare, the role is dependent on good communication and joint working with a variety of partners and professionals.
The role requires a high degree of motivation to support complex and vulnerable people, often in a lone-working situation, and a passion to work collaboratively with others for the good of our service users, with some experience of working in a related field in a voluntary or paid capacity.
A high degree of emotional intelligence is required to support service users, many of whom have complex emotional needs, with backgrounds of trauma, neglect, abuse, crime and low self-worth. A role of this nature will experience a range of emotions from joy to grief and as such requires a high degree of resilience to cope with the emotional demands of the role.
Making decisions, “in the moment” to do the right thing to mitigate risk with service users can place high emotional demands on the job holder. The role is highly reactive, unpredictable and at times, chaotic. Therefore, it requires a high degree of self-awareness to one’s own resilience levels and exercising appropriate levels of self-care.
Role Description
Service Delivery
* Using frontline practical and procedural knowledge of working with complex service users to support them to engage with health care services during their housing vulnerability, including but not limited to:
* Assisting them in addressing housing, financial, health or wellbeing needs
* Accompanying them to appointments
* Connecting them with appropriate support services such as substance misuse services or food banks
* Collaborating with agencies such as the local authority, housing providers and support services
* Advocating on behalf of the service user to access medical care, housing and benefits
* Maintaining regular contact, a listening ear and emotional support during times of crisis
* Helping increase their self-confidence and self-efficacy to improve their chances of moving on from homelessness
* Managing own calendar to deliver a caseload during periods of work-related pressure, including actively pursuing the project outcomes set for the project and individual clients
* Using interpersonal and communication skills to provide support to service users and collaborate with others including colleagues, partner agencies, health care professionals and external agencies
* Taking duty of care seriously by assessing the service users' social and environmental conditions, drawing out and passing on relevant information to and from healthcare professionals, ensuring client confidentiality is maintained
* Using excellent writing skills to prepare and submit housing applications along with a good working knowledge of housing legislation in order to advocate on behalf of service users
* Supporting the delivery of the activities programme where needed
* Briefing and liaising with other members of the team and external agencies regarding service users, enabling them to effectively carry out their roles
* Recording all service user data on the Inform system within the standards set by the organisation
* Carrying out light physical tasks, such as travelling to visit service users, shopping or lifting office equipment
* Overseeing work streams within the project as directed by the Project Lead
Service Development
* Collaborating with the Advocacy and Patient Discharge Coordinator to maintain good standards of support for patients as well as good communication with hospital staff and the weekday in-reach team
* Contributing to initiatives that seek to influence service improvements, implement changes and develop new interventions and support for clients
* Providing reports and case studies when requested
* Being part of and contributing to the Justlife staff team, attending meetings as appropriate and being involved in appropriate staff development, training, supervision and reflective practice as well as continuing professional development and training events where appropriate
Research
* Supporting the wider Justlife vision to feed into research and help develop the service including the involvement of service users in design and delivery of the service
This job description is intended as an outline indicator of general areas of activity and will be amended in light of the changing needs of Justlife. It is expected that the post holder will be as positive and flexible as possible in using this document as a framework, and in performing other duties commensurate with these responsibilities, the band of the post and skills and qualifications of the post-holder.
Person Specification
Experience
* Experience of working with vulnerable adults (those experiencing homelessness or housing vulnerability, or a comparable client group)
* Experience of working with drug and alcohol dependent adults or those experiencing poor mental health
Skills
* Care, empathy and skilled in dealing with emotionally vulnerable service users
* Excellent ability to engage with service users in an empowering manner
* Effective communication; written and oral skills
* Effective administrative and IT skills
* Excellent organisational skills
Knowledge
* Demonstrate knowledge of assessment, support planning and interventions that help clients experiencing homelessness or housing vulnerability to become and stay healthy
* Demonstrate knowledge of the challenges and solutions to working with a client group who may be experiencing one or more of the following: poor health (physical and mental), substance misuse and homelessness
* An understanding of health and safety policies and procedures that aim to keep staff and clients safe
Personal Attributes
* Commitment to equal opportunities in our service delivery
* High self-awareness and the ability to maintain personal well-being through periods of pressure and stress
* Ability to be self-motivated and work well in a team or as a lone worker
Application Process
To apply, please email a covering letter addressing how you meet the person specification, together with an up-to-date CV and an Equal Opportunities form to recruitment@justlife.org.uk. The Equal Opportunities form can be found at https://www.justlife.org.uk/jobs.
Deadline for applications is 10th February, but we may close this early if enough suitable applicants are identified. Interviews will be held in the week of 17th February.
You will receive an automated email receipt of your submitted forms. If you do not hear from us by the end of Friday 14th February, please assume your application has been unsuccessful on this occasion. We are grateful to you for considering this role but unfortunately we are unable to provide feedback on unsuccessful shortlisting.
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