Mental Health Wellbeing Link Worker (Information and Advice) SocialPrescribing Project

Job Description

Job Title	Mental Health Wellbeing Link Worker (Information and Advice) SocialPrescribing Project
Salary Scale	NJC Scale Point 12 -17 £28,598 - £31,022 pro rata per annum.
Location	Office Base: Abergavenny, working remotely across Monmouthshire.
Contract Hours	30 hours (to include a Friday)
Responsible To	Recovery and Wellbeing Lead
Expenses	Expenses incurred in carrying out the duties of the post will be reimbursedincluding travel to workplaces other than your primary workplace.

Job Purpose

Working as part of a Social Prescribing Project; to provide a community-based service for individuals aged 18+ who experience or are at risk of mild / moderate mental health issues that enable them to:

be independent

be healthy and active

• be happy and do the things that make them happy

• contribute towards their social life and be with the people that they choose

feel valued in society

learn and develop to their full potential

engage and contribute in their community

contribute to, and enjoy safe and healthy relationships

The mental health wellbeing link worker element of social prescribing is intended as a short-term intervention.

To hold a What Matters' conversation with individuals in relation to their mental health and support them to engage with that service or activity to improve individual wellbeing. The focus will be on empowering individuals to make their own choices, overcome any bariers and to set personal goals to promote positive wellbeing and social inclusion. The service is predominately delivered on the telephone and face to face.

Key Responsibilities

1. To respond to individuals who require support / information / advice in relation to their mental health, to help them identify their support needs and link them with local services/activities that could meet those needs. This could include:

• Community wellbeing activities.

• Support and preventative services including supporting individuals to gain access to these services.

Services to resolve socio-economic needs (e.g. benefits advice, housing, prevention of homelessness) including supporting individuals to complete relevant paperwork.

Wider information and advice e.g. Citizens rights, entitlement and available support, helplines, information about mental health.

• Other, including other health services and support in a crisis.

2. Support and empower individuals to create their own action plan; setting their own goals and what help they need to get there through a proportionate assessment.

3. Support individuals to access services through various mechanisms such as coaching, making onward referrals, providing information or advice or arranging for additional support and assistance.

4. Use various techniques to assess individual' needs such as the 'What Matters' approach and motivational interviewing.

5. To deliver short term interventions to individuals in an agreed geographical area (subject to funding).

6. To maintain regular check-ins with individuals, to review progress and adjust plans as required.

7. To work as a lone worker delivering services face-to-face and over the telephone (responding to individual need) on a one-to-one basis. Delivery will be in local community settings.

8. To manage and document risk as appropriate.

9. To have an in-depth knowledge of local services and activities and to signpost individuals to.

10. To help to train, supervise and support volunteers as required.

11. To promote the concepts of social inclusion, early intervention and recovery and to work within Mind in Gwent's ethos and Mission Statement.

12. To accurately and efficiently manage all administration processes.

13. To deliver an effective service to meet set Service Level Agreement targets in conjunction with relevant manager.

14. To promote/publicise the service and establish positive engagement and input, as well as being involved in promoting general aspects of well-being and Mind in Gwent.

15. To maintain all required records of clients to support the running of this project.

16. Ensure that all monitoring, reporting and evaluation forms are completed on time and accurately and are securely stored in accordance with GDPR requirements.

17. Support all project evaluation activities as required.

18. To adhere to Mind in Gwent policies and procedures in all activities relating to the job role, in particular the Staf Code of Conduct, Health and Safety, Equality and Diversity, Safeguarding and Confidentiality.

19. To attend training relevant to the role either internally or externally.

20. Keep abreast of national themes, policy, legislation and local services relating to wellbeing.

21. To participate in supervision and annual appraisal with the relevant manager.

22. To support and contribute to our overall aim of the participation of people with experience of mental health problems, including within Mind in Gwent and to be committed to working alongside people with experience of mental health problems, as colleagues, (paid & unpaid) experts and campaigners.

23. To carry out any other tasks as reasonably required and directed by a manager.

Person Specification
This acts as selection criteria and gives an outline of the types of person and the characteristics required to do the job.
Area to be Assessed	Description of Requirements	How Tested
Experience Skills and Abilities	Essential Experience of working with individuals with a range of mental ● health issues, or within health and social care.	Application / Interview
	Experience of working on a one to one and group work basis. Experience of support/action planning with individuals.
	Demonstrable experience of partnership working with other agencies in the statutory and voluntary sectors.
	Experience of providing information and advice on some of the following: housing related issues, financial information i.e. benefits, direct payments, support and advocacy services.
Desirable ●	Experience of working with and supporting volunteers. Essential • Ability to support and motivate individuals to engage in community-based activities to improve wellbeing using	Application / Interview
	techniques such as motivational interviewing, active listening, problem solving and goal setting. A confidence and resilience to manage a dynamic / variable case
	load, organise and prioritise own workload effectively and timely to meet job objectives.
	• Ability to create a safe and trusting environment for individuals. Ability to communicate effectively to a high standard with a diverse range of individuals, at different levels of understanding
	and ability. Ability to work as part of a team and lone work in the community on own initiative.
	Ability to carry out a range of office tasks (telephone, wordprocessing, spreadsheets, using online platforms, reportwriting, using databases) accurately, timely and withoutsupervision.Ability to collate service outcomes and maintain data collectionfor monitoring purposes.Ability to identify when discrimination is taking place in servicedelivery or in the workplace and take appropriate action wherediscrimination is identified.A demonstrable commitment to equality of opportunity and apositive approach to diversity. To proactively engage people to get involved in what we do bytelling their story and talking about mental health.
Knowledge	Essential Knowledge and understanding of the types and symptoms ofcommon mental health issues, for example: Depression, anxietyand strategies to promote wellbeing. Knowledge and understanding of All Wales SafeguardingPolicies and Procedures and confidentiality.Desirable Knowledge of relevant legislation including:Social Services and Wellbeing (Wales) Act 2014Mental Health Act 1983• Knowledge of theWhat Matters' approach and motivationalinterviewing.Knowledge of local community services (statutory and thirdsector) and activities in Monmouthshire.	Application/ Interview
Education andTraining	EssentialGood standard of education to GCSE Grade C level orequivalent vocational qualifications: e.g. NVQ; BTEC National.Good IT skills (i.e. email, Word, Excel, Databases).DesirableRelevant training to the role such as mental health, group workand/or community development.	Application/ InterviewCertificate
OtherRequirements	Essential• An Enhanced DBS Check.Committed to continuing professional development.Ability to work flexibility including out of office hours, eveningsand weekends if required.	Application/ Interview
	• A current and full driving licence and access to car during working hours with appropriate insurance cover for business use and a valid MOT certificate. • Any other duties appropriate to the role as directed by a