Health Engagement Worker

Justlife s Vision

Making people's experience of temporary accommodation be short, safe and healthy.

About this role

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 or them to get access to source 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. With a passion to work collaboratively with others for the good of our service users, and 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. The role therefore requires a high degree of self-awareness to one s own resilience levels and exercising appropriate levels of self-care.

Why do we exist

Justlife is in existence because we know thousands of people struggle to manage in poor and unsuitable temporary accommodation. Their stay isn t temporary, they are likely to be suffering with deteriorating mental and physical health, becoming victims of crime, losing control of their life and even dying prematurely. We are working towards making their stays as short, safe and healthy as possible.

How do we operate?

Our values guide our work and are very important to us:

• Collaboration before competition
• People before programmes
• Innovation before Institutions

What do we do?

Justlife delivers impactful services in Greater Manchester and Brighton & Hove, supporting and empowering people experiencing homelessness in temporary accommodation. We also drive positive system change across the national temporary accommodation sector, convening those with a common interest; people with lived experience, landlords, charities, local and national government, and carrying out research and gathering insights.

We aim to grow our impact and reach, supporting more people in temporary accommodation and to build a movement that brings about lasting positive change.

Why work for us?

Here at Justlife, we're committed to equality, diversity and inclusion. We want to be an organisation that's representative of the communities we serve, which is why we strive for diversity of age, gender identity, sexual orientation, physical or mental ability, ethnicity and perspective.

Perks of working at Justlife

• Great holiday package! Starting at 27 days annual leave entitlement, plus bank holidays (increasing to 29 days after 5 years service and 30 days after 10 years service)
• Additional 5 days annual leave purchase scheme through salary sacrifice
• Enhanced pension contribution scheme, 5% Justlife contribution (correct at time of print)
• Cycle to work scheme
• 2 Volunteering days per year

Key terms and conditions

Job Title: Health Engagement Worker

Hours: 37.5 hours per week

Contract: Permanent

Normal hrs to be worked: Monday-Friday 9am-5pm

Location: Brighton

Salary: £29,892 per Annum

Application Process

To apply, please upload a covering letter addressing how you meet the person specification, together with an up to date CV and an Equal Opportunities.

Deadline for applications is midnight 13th April, but we may close this early if enough suitable applicants are identified. Interviews will be held in the week of 21st April.

You will receive an automated email receipt of your submitted forms. If you do not hear from us by 5pm 16th April, 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.

Role Summary

The role requires a high degree of motivation to support complex and vulnerable people, often in a lone-working situation. With a passion to work collaboratively with others for the good of our service users, and 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.

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. This could include, but is 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
• Manage 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.
• Use interpersonal and communication skills to provide support to service users and collaborate with others including colleagues, partner agencies, health care professionals and external agencies.
• Take 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.
• Use of 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.
• Support delivery of the activities programme where needed.
• Brief and liaise with other members of the team and external agencies regarding service users, enabling them to effectively carry out their roles.
• To record all service user data on the Inform system within the standards set by the organisation.
• Carry out light physical tasks, such as travelling to visit service users, shopping or lifting office equipment.
• Oversee work streams within the project as directed by the Project Lead.

Service Development

• Collaborate with the Advocacy and Patient Discharge Coordinater, maintain good standards of support for patients as well as good communication with hospital staff and the weekday in-reach team.
• Contribute to initiatives that seek to influence service improvements, implement changes and develop new interventions and support for clients.
• Provide reports and case studies when requested.
• To be part of and contribute to the Justlife staff team, attending meetings as appropriate and to be involved in appropriate staff development, training, supervision and reflective practice as well as continuing professional development and training events where appropriate and be committed to team events.

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 qualification 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
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