If you are innovative and would love the exciting
challenge of joining an up and coming patient and community focused service
within South Notts Place Based Partnership, then this could be the job for you.
We are looking to recruit a Dementia Link Worker
who is self-motivated, enthusiastic, committed, and passionate about supporting
and empowering individuals to take control of their health and wellbeing.
The Dementia Link Worker will aim to address non-medical issues experienced by people living with dementia and their carers, focussing on how they can be supported to live well with dementia. The role willadopt a holistic non-medical approach, co-designing a social prescription to improve health and wellbeing, and integrating services around the person, based on what matters to the individual and their individual strengths and needs.
Therolewill also involve working with GP practices, communities, services and organisations which support people living with dementia,focussing on the annual dementia review process and post diagnosis support.
Encouraging a holistic approach for patients with dementia and their carers.
Engaging patients and connecting them with the wide range of groups and services.
Working with the wider health, social care and voluntary network.
Ideally you will have worked in a similar role, but this role would also be suited to someone with good local knowledge, appropriate experience and enthusiasm. If you are proactive, enthusiastic, person and hold a clean driving licence with unlimited access to a car, then we would love to hear from you.
Job description
Job responsibilities
JOB DESCRIPTION
Post
Dementia Link Worker
Salary Grade
£25,700 - £28,500
Accountable to
Partners Health Social Prescribing Team
Leader
Reporting to
South Notts Transformation Manager
PURPOSE OF THE ROLE
Social prescribing empowers
people to take control of
their health and wellbeing
through referral
to non-medical
link workers who give
time, focus on what matters to
me and take an holistic approach, connecting
people to community groups
and statutory services
for practical
and
emotional support. Link workers
support existing groups to be accessible
and
sustainable and help people
to start new community
groups, working collaboratively with all local
partners.
Social prescribing can help to
strengthen community resilience and
personal resilience, and
reduces health inequalities by addressing the wider determinants
of health, such as debt, poor housing and physical
inactivity, by increasing peoples active involvement with
their local communities. It
particularly works for people with
long-term
conditions (including support for mental health), for
people
who are lonely or isolated,
or have complex social needs which affect
their wellbeing.
The
role has a focus on supporting people living with dementia, and their families
and carers. The emphasis will be on providing holistic personalised support to
improve wellbeing and working with partners within their local communities. The role will be aligned to the South
Nottinghamshire Place based Partnership priorities of ageing well, integrated
neighbourhood working, and mental health.
MAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Work with a wide range of agencies, including
GP practices
within primary care
networks, pharmacies, multi-disciplinary teams, hospital
discharge teams, allied health professionals, fire
service, police, job
centres, social care services,
housing associations, and voluntary, community and
social enterprise (VCSE) organisations (list
not
exhaustive).
Provide personalised
support
to individuals,
their families and carers to take
control of their wellbeing and live independently for as long as possible. Develop trusting
relationships by giving people time
and
focus on what matters
to me. Take a
holistic
approach, based on the persons
priorities and the wider determinants of
health. Co-produce a personalised support plan to improve health
and wellbeing, introducing or
reconnecting people
to community groups and
statutory
services.
The role will
involve working with practices to support individuals living with dementia and
their carers, focussing on the annual dementia review process and post
diagnosis support. It is vital that
you have a strong awareness and understanding of
when it is appropriate or necessary to refer people back to other health
professionals/agencies, when
what the person
needs
is beyond the scope of the link worker
role e.g. when there
is a mental health
need
requiring a qualified
practitioner.
Draw on and increase the
strengths and
capacities of local
communities,
enabling local
VCSE organisations and
community groups
to receive social prescribing
referrals. Ensure they are supported, have
basic safeguarding processes for vulnerable individuals and can provide opportunities for
the person
to develop friendships, a sense of
belonging, and build
knowledge,
skills and confidence.
Work together with
all
local partners to collectively ensure
that local VCSE organisations and community groups are sustainable and that
community assets are nurtured, by making them aware
of
small grants or micro-commissioning if available,
including providing support to
set up new community groups and
services, where gaps
are identified
in local provision.
KEY TASKS
Referrals
Promoting social prescribing, its role in self-management, and the wider determinants of
health.
Build relationships with key staff in GP practices
within the local Primary Care Network
(PCN),
attending relevant meetings, becoming part of the
wider
network team, giving information and feedback on social prescribing.
Be proactive in developing strong links with
all
local agencies to
encourage referrals, recognising what they need to be confident in the service to
make appropriate referrals.
Work in partnership with
all
local agencies to
raise awareness of social
prescribing and how partnership working can reduce
pressure on statutory
services, improve health
outcomes and enable a holistic approach
to care.
Provide referral agencies with
regular updates about
social prescribing,
including training for their staff and
how
to access information
to encourage appropriate
referrals.
Seek regular feedback about
the quality of service
and impact
of social prescribing on
referral agencies.
Be proactive in encouraging self-referrals and connecting with all local communities,
particularly those communities that
statutory agencies may find hard to
reach.
Provide
personalised support
Meet people on
a one-to-one basis, making home visits where
appropriate within organisations policies and procedures. Give
people
time
to tell their stories and
focus on what matters to
me. Build trust with the
person, providing non-
judgemental support, respecting diversity and lifestyle choices. Work from a strength-based approach focusing
on a persons assets.
Be a friendly source of information about
wellbeing and prevention
approaches.
Help people identify the
wider
issues that impact on their health and wellbeing,
such as debt, poor housing, being
unemployed, loneliness and caring responsibilities.
Work with the person,
their families and
carers
and
consider how they can all be
supported through social prescribing.
Help people maintain
or regain independence through living skills,
adaptations, enablement approaches and simple safeguards.
Work with individuals
to co-produce a simple personalised
support
plan
based on the persons
priorities, interests, values and
motivations including what they
can expect from the
groups, activities and services
they
are being connected to and what the
person can do for
themselves
to improve their health and wellbeing.
Where appropriate, physically introduce people to community groups,
activities and statutory services, ensuring they are
comfortable. Follow up to
ensure they are happy,
able to engage,
included and receiving good
support.
Where people may be eligible
for
a personal health budget, help them to
explore
this option as a way of
providing funded,
personalised support to be independent, including helping people
to gain skills
for meaningful employment,
where appropriate.
Support
community groups and VCSE
organisations to receive referrals
Forge strong links with
local VCSE organisations, community and neighbourhood
level groups, utilising their networks
and building on whats
already available
to create a map or menu of community groups and
assets.
Use these opportunities to
promote micro-commissioning or
small grants if available.
Develop supportive relationships with local VCSE organisations,
community
groups and statutory services,
to make timely, appropriate and
supported
referrals for the person being introduced.
Ensure that
local community groups and VCSE
organisations being referred to have
basic procedures in place for ensuring that
vulnerable individuals are safe and, where there are safeguarding
concerns, work with
all
partners to deal appropriately with issues. Where such policies and procedures are not in place,
support groups to work towards
this standard before referrals are
made to them.
Check that community groups and VCSE organisations meet in insured
premises and
that health and
safety requirements are in place. Where such policies and
procedures are not in place, support groups to work
towards this standard before referrals are
made to them.
Support local groups
to act
in
accordance with
information governance
policies
and procedures, ensuring compliance
with the Data Protection
Act.
Work collectively with all local
partners to ensure community groups are strong and sustainable
Work with commissioners and
local partners to identify unmet needs within
the community and gaps
in community
provision.
Support local partners and commissioners
to develop new groups and
services
where needed, through small grants for
community groups,
micro-commissioning and development support.
Encourage people who have been connected to community support through social prescribing to
volunteer and
give
their time freely to
others,
in order to build their skills
and
confidence, and strengthen
community
resilience.
Develop a team of volunteers within
your service to provide buddying support
for people, starting new groups and finding creative community
solutions to local issues.
Encourage people, their families
and carers
to provide peer support and to do
things
together, such as setting up new community
groups or volunteering.
Provide a regular confidence survey
to community groups
receiving referrals, to
ensure that they are strong,
sustained and have
the support they need to
be part
of social prescribing.
Data capture
Work sensitively with people,
their families and
carers to capture key information,
enabling tracking of the impact of social prescribing on their health and wellbeing.
Encourage people, their families
and carers
to provide feedback and to share
their stories about
the impact
of social prescribing on
their lives.
Support referral agencies to provide appropriate information about
the person they
are referring.
Use the case management system to track the
persons progress. Provide appropriate feedback to referral agencies
about
the people they referred.