Peer Support Worker (Development Role)

Job responsibilities

Clinical Work

To work as part of the multi-disciplinary team in order to support individuals in the RDP, ARC Hounslow and the Addictions directorate, and supporting the interventions used in these services.

To plan, deliver and facilitate psychosocial group-based interventions as part of the Recovery Day Programme and the wider ARC Hounslow service.

To use personal, experiential knowledge and to share lived experience, as appropriate to the peer role, in building safe, trusting relationships with named service users.

To model/mentor a recovery process and demonstrate self-management skills and techniques, using own experience of recovery.

To assume a coaching role supporting service users in developing personal recovery plans; this can be delivered individually or in groups.

To empower and enable each individual service user, in a non-directive, non-prescriptive way, to discover and make use of their own strengths and to build and strengthen positive connections with their peers, networks and wider communities.

To skilfully use personal experience of recovery to help motivate service users.

To provide opportunities for service users to direct their own recovery process.

To support service users to identify and overcome fears within a relationship of empathy and trust.

To act as a role model to service users to inspire hope, share life experiences and lessons learned as a person in recovery.

To contribute to the assessment, planning, implementation and review of care with the multi-disciplinary team.

To work together with the service user and where possible their carers/supporters in the drawing up of care plans, encouraging and motivating service users to take an active role in their own care plan.

To assist individuals in managing their substance use on a day-to-day basis including providing support with activities of daily living such as care of self, budgeting, personal care, caring for their home and leisure activities

To accompany service users to appointments, therapeutic or social community-based activities as appropriate.

To respect, acknowledge and support service users as they describe and make sense of their experiences.

To hand over issues of risk, safety and safeguarding, having explained this first to the service user, following locally agreed procedures for risk and safety management

To signpost to various resources, opportunities and activities within the Trust and in communities to promote choice and informed decision making.

To respect and support the diversity of experiences and backgrounds that people bring to the peer support relationship.

To accept and respect service users personal beliefs, uniqueness and identity.

To assist service users to maintain a connection with their life outside of services.

To support the team in promoting a recovery orientated environment by identifying recovery-focused activities and imparting information and education as required.

Please review the job description for full details on the role and responsibilities.

EDUCATION AND QUALIFICATIONS

Essential

• Commitment to obtain underpinning knowledge through work based learning and mandatory training, (including accredited peer support worker training if not previously undertaken)
• Acceptable level of written literacy and numeracy
• Basic IT skills i.e. word & email

Desirable

• Accredited peer support worker training
• Accredited certificate in Life Coaching

PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE

Essential

• Lived experience of substance misuse problems, with 12 months abstinence from dependent & problematic drug & alcohol use; including prescribed opiate substitutes
• Paid or unpaid working experience in health and social care
• Willing to positively share your own life experiences and personal experience of substance misuse with service users and carers
• Developed plans for managing own recovery
• Experience of actively supporting individuals to identify and work towards achieving personal goals in a related social care or health setting (paid or unpaid)
• Experience of facilitating groups

Desirable

• Involvement in service redesign and development.
• Paid or unpaid, peer support worker experience

SKILLS, KNOWLEDGE, ABILITIES

Essential

• Able to demonstrate understanding of Intentional Peer Support
• Ability to demonstrate first person experiential knowledge of personal recovery
• Ability to demonstrate knowledge of personal recovery as it may relate to others
• Evidence of good interpersonal skills and an ability to form peer relationships with service users and carers
• Effective listening skills
• Ability to communicate on all levels and to a broad scope of individuals, both internally and externally to the Trust
• Ability to appreciate / understand other people's worlds
• Ability to demonstrate empathy, compassion and patience
• An ability to be non-judgemental
• An ability to act calmly and to respond in a professional manner to distress, disturbance and unpredictability
• Knowledge of how to build community links and networks
• Ability to problem solve and create innovative solutions to help empower service users
• Understanding of issues arising from experiencing ill health related to substance use
• Ability to work unsupervised in a range of settings
• Sensitive understanding of diversity issues and an ability to promote anti-discriminatory practice/ equal opportunities
• Ability to demonstrate practical skills to provide support with daily living activities
• Resilience
• Good organisational skills
• Effective team player

Desirable

• Knowledge of current legislation which underpins Health and Social Care and a working knowledge of the Equalities Act 2010 and Human Rights Act.
• Knowledge of basic first aid
• Basic Health and Safety awareness
• Moving and handling awareness
• Awareness of local services
• Knowledge of benefits/ employment systems
• Ability to speak other languages
• Ability to demonstrate a good understanding of substance misuse issues

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).