Health Coach

Job description

Job responsibilities

Job Purpose:

• To contribute to improving health and reducing diseases associated with lifestyle, by supporting people to develop healthier behaviours and contributing to delivery of the service aims and standards in line with national and Primary and Community Mental Health Transformation (PCMHT) programme priorities.
• Where appropriate focussing on the wider determinants of health and facilitating access to community based support to help people self-care and address issues of loneliness and isolation. Identifying and making contact with patients to encourage uptake of NHS physical health checks. Completing physical health checks including drawing blood from patients. Working with a defined population using behaviour change techniques with individuals and groups to empower them to identify, make, and sustain positive lifestyle changes to improve their health and wellbeing.

Key Responsibilities:

• To work as part of the wider multi-disciplinary team and with partners to support individuals to improve their physical, emotional and social health and wellbeing by coaching individuals and groups to identify and initiate opportunities for change.
• Using the principles of Making Every Contact Count (MECC) supporting individuals to make informed choices about their health and wellbeing and supporting them in initiating and sustaining appropriate behavioural changes to improve their physical, emotional and social wellbeing.
• Work with the wider system to ensure a co-ordinated approach to care and support planning across primary care, secondary care, and community settings.
• Helping people to find and use the right services to support health improvement.
• Identifying new referral pathways and strengthening existing ones into the health trainer service.
• To work with city wide physical health check strategies to undertake capacity building work.
• Recording and reporting activities and results.
• Acts within standard operating procedures.
• Able to work independently within role boundaries and under the management and guidance of the line manager and wider team.

Communication and Relationships:

• Recording and reporting activities and results.
• Exchanges factual information with patients using persuasion, reassurance, tact, empathy; may overcome barriers to understanding.
• To support the identification of health needs and undertake as appropriate the planning, implementation and evaluation of individual care interventions.
• The ability to communicate clear and accurate information to patients on a range of health related issues.
• Provide advice, instruction and training to small groups of patients and other health professionals.
• To develop working relationships within a variety of different organisations and teams.
• The ability to communicate effectively with a range of staff across disciplines, grades and organisations.
• The ability to communicate with people from the local community from a variety of backgrounds where there may be barriers to understanding (learning disabilities, mental health needs etc.) in a supportive and non-judgemental manner.
• To be able to communicate potentially sensitive information to patients and other health professionals.
• Produce accurate written records of activities and work undertaken

Analytical Skills:

• Recording and reporting activities and results.
• Makes judgements involving facts or situations, some requiring analysis
• Assess patients condition through basic test results, assess comfort of patients and instigate emergency procedures as necessary.
• To participate in the collection of data to monitor and evaluate individual progress and service performance.
• To be able to collect service user data (e.g. height, weight, blood pressure, etc.) to enable assessment of a suitable individually tailored personal health plan.
• To support effective evaluation systems within the public health service.

Planning and Organisational Skills:

• Plans and organises activities, some ongoing such as meetings, training, events.
• Attend, contribute and participate in relevant meetings.
• To demonstrate a knowledge of external agencies (including voluntary and community sector), who could be involved in patient care and work in partnership with these agencies under the direct/indirect supervision of an appropriate senior practitioner.
• To be able to plan own workload within role boundaries and under the management and guidance of the line manager and wider team.
• To plan and deliver sessions to identify and engage with individuals and groups to raise awareness of lifestyle issues.
• To support individuals to develop an action plan to change behaviours and sustain those behaviours, leading to more healthy choices and actions.
• To support individuals personal health plans over time and review and revise these plans with individuals as appropriate.
• To plan own work to ensure that individual targets and workload commitments are being met.
• Liaise with a variety of organisations in order maintain and develop links with the community.
• To enter all client information regularly into an electronic database.
• Ability to manage own time effectively. To complete all relevant mandatory training as and when required to do so.

Physical Skills:

• Physical skills obtained through practice.
• Hand eye co-ordination required when using test equipment manipulating wheelchairs or equipment.
• Computer literacy and keyboard skills.
• The ability to safely move and handle displays and training equipment.
• There will be some requirement for light physical effort on a regular basis.
• To be able to move around the city, and visit patients at home access to a car and driving licence would be beneficial.

Patient/Client Care:

• In partnership with patient implements a plan for improving health and wellbeing.
• Identify and use opportunities to promote healthy lifestyles e.g. reduce alcohol intake, nutrition, physical activity, with individuals and groups.
• Undertakes a range of interventions with individuals and groups.
• Records patient observations.
• To develop and maintain relationships with individuals, carers and families to educate facilitate and promote change.
• To support individuals personal health plans over time and review and revise these plans with individuals as appropriate.
• To signpost individuals to other appropriate services to further support their health and wellbeing needs.
• To identify and manage any risks relating to client care.
• Follows policies in own role, may participate in discussions on proposed changes to procedures.
• To demonstrate an understanding of policies relevant to the role including the application of clinical governance and risk management.
• Keeps up-to-date with local and national policies and guidelines that impact on their role.
• Contributes to service development and improvement and takes a participatory role in implementing agreed changes.
• Participates in evaluation of activities and programmes to inform service delivery and development

To be noted:

This is not an exhaustive list of duties and responsibilities, and the post holder may be required to undertake other duties, which fall within the grade of the job, in discussion with their line manager.

This job description will be reviewed regularly in the light of changing service requirements and any such changes will be discussed with the post holder.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Desirable

• Level 3 Health Trainer certificate

Experience

Essential

• - Experience of working as part of a team
• - Verbal communication skills ability to deal with people confidently in person and on the telephone
• - Awareness and ability to operate within data protection and confidentiality requirements
• - Proven experience in prioritising workload to ensure priorities are flagged up

Desirable

• - Experience of working in the NHS or similar role
• - Experience of System One clinical system

Skills/Abilities

Essential

• - IT skills: Use of Microsoft Office, Outlook Calendars,
• - Organisational skills ( organising appointments and events)
• - Knowledge of care and related procedures, some clinical observations and blood pressure monitoring.
• - Understanding of the broad concepts of health and the health services.
• - A knowledge and understanding of the underlying determinants of health and issues facing people in communities in Sheffield particularly those in areas of multiple deprivations.

Desirable

• - Skilled phlebotomist

Flexibility and People Skills

Essential

• - Ability to work autonomously without supervision
• - Understanding and experience using behaviour change methods
• - Evidence of good motivational skills
• - Interested in/aptitude for learning new skills/taking on new
• challenges
• - Flexible with regard to working hours

Other Requirements

Essential

• - Know your own limits of skills, competences and responsibilities and work within them
• - Understand how people can access services across the public sector and voluntary and community sector.
• - To be confident in working with a wide variety of partners and have a good understanding of the range of services provided in localities
• - It is an essential requirement of the role that the post holder has a valid driving licence and is either a car owner and able to use the car for work purposes.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

Employer details

Employer name

Primary Care Sheffield

Address

722 Prince of Wales Road

Sheffield

South Yorkshire

S9 4EU

Employer's website

http://www.primarycaresheffield.org.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)