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Specialist Development Officer

Employer
Viewpoint Mental Health
Location
Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire
Salary
£23,400 Annually - 30 Hours Per Week
Closing date
9 Aug 2021

Job Details

Would you like to work for a small charity that assists individuals with mental health and/or addiction challenges? We would love to hear from you!

The Specialist Development Officer will have a Qualification in mental health or social care up to degree standards – for example, counselling, therapy, nursing, occupational therapy, arts therapy etc. and have personal lived experience of mental health challenges will lead the small team of Peer Facilitators and support people with mental health and/or addiction challenges by offering peer-led sessions to help their personal recovery, based on the person’s individualised person centre approach.

Together, the Specialist Development Officer and Peer Facilitators will provide closed peer support groups to support individuals to regain control over their lives and their own unique personal recovery journey. Through sharing the wisdom of their own lived experience of recovery, the Specialist Development Officer will inspire hope and belief that recovery is possible in others. Within a relationship of mutuality, they will facilitate and promote choice, self-determination, and opportunities to fulfil socially valued roles and connect to local communities.

About Viewpoint

Viewpoint develops innovative ways that support people with a lived experience of mental health issues and/or addiction challenges—working with 1000 experts by experience, putting them at the centre of all everything we do. We support people to be independent, have their say and influence change to services. Working across the whole of Hertfordshire.

Our support is flexible and needs-led, delivered by outreach group-based activity, one to one or remotely. Staff or members who have a lived experience facilitate our programmes. We offer educational sessions that enhance wellbeing and equip individuals with the skills and self-belief to aid their recovery personal journey.

Our goals
Improving services: Make sure people are involved in the planning, developing, delivering and evaluation of services to gain equality of support and treatment.
Staying well: Support people to stay well.
Supporting choice: Supporting people to make informed choices about services and their mental wellbeing.
Reducing inequality: People’s involvement from all backgrounds is essential to gain equality of support and treatment.
Organisationally: Use all of our organisational excellence to enhance quality and develop the right resources.

Main duties and responsibilities

To support people who are experiencing mental health challenges to:

  • Maintain and develop their independence within their local community.
  • Build life skills, confidence, resilience and self-esteem.
  • Build social networks and reduce isolation.
  • Engage in peer support sessions and offer holistic support, advice, information, and if necessary onward referral to other support.
  • Opportunities to direct their own recovery process through self-management and choice.

To use personal recovery to

  • Model and mentor recovery and demonstrate coping skills.
  • Embed a person-centred and recovery-orientated approach in all aspects of the work.
  • Inspire hope, share life experiences and lessons learnt.

Working as a team

  1. To implement peer facilitated support and activities in line with Viewpoint strategic direction.
  2. To work together with the experts by experience to co-produce and co-deliver peer support sessions.
  3. To co-facilitate specific peer support sessions about different subject such has understanding and living with depression or anxiety etc..
  4. To ensure that the safety and wellbeing of each person ensuring the service is monitored and reviewed regularly.
  5. To report any untoward incidents or unusual occurrences through management lines.
  6. To attend the appropriate team and development meetings.
  7. To attend supervision.

Communication

  1. To meet, welcome, introduce and orientate people with lived experience to the service and what it can offer them in their development and recovery.
  2. To help people to access information on health promotion, mental and physical wellbeing.

Management and liaison

  1. To support both individual and group and offer supervision to the Peer Facilitators.
  2. Model and mentor working practices including recovery approach to the Peer Facilitators.
  3. To report to Viewpoint line manager and ensure they are aware of workload and working practices.

Service Development and Delivery

  1. To maintain up to date knowledge of legislation, national and local policies and issues in relation to both the specific service user group, peer support and mental health.
  2. To comply with all relevant Viewpoint policies, procedures and guidelines, including those relating to Equal Opportunities, Health and Safety and Confidentiality of Information and to be aware of any changes in these.
  3. To be aware of, teach others and challenge issues in relation to stigma, low expectations and anti-discriminatory practice as appropriate.
  4. To promote the value of peer support and recovery.
  5. To create and develop educational programmes for people with mental health and/or addiction challenges to become Peer Facilitators and run peer support groups.
  6. To deliver co-facilitated peer support sessions about specific subjects e.g. depression, trauma etc.

Learning and Development

  1. To participate in mandatory training and development opportunities.
  2. To contribute and create a personal Development Review/Objective Setting/Appraisal.
  3. To take part in supervision.

This is an outline of the postholder’s and responsibilities. It is not intended as an exhaustive list and may change from time to time in order to meet the changing needs of the service.

Company

Viewpoint is a user involvement charity for people to share their personal experiences on drugs, alcohol and mental health in order to influence positive change.

We’re the only organisation of its kind in Hertfordshire that focuses on giving people a voice to influence change. Hearing firsthand from our users offers valuable advice that can help others. Through their expertise, this information can greatly help providers to make the biggest difference in peoples’ lives.

We achieve this by:

  • Representing our service users
  • Holding local forums and meetings
  • Hosting specialist workshops
  • Carrying out surveys and listening to user feedback
  • Providing training.

We offer training courses in many areas, for example, personality disorder, mental health first aid, impact of substance misuse and transgender awareness to name a few. This training is unique as it is provided by people with lived experience which makes it reflective and authentic.

We hold regular meetings and events for individuals who have used mental health services in Hertfordshire to provide and share their personal experiences and opinions, both good and bad, on the services in the area. We can organise for service users to input ideas, plans and documents to be fully involved in the decision making processes.

Company info
Website
Telephone
01707386136
Location
Viewpoint, Weltech Business Centre
Welwyn Garden City
Hertfordshire
AL7 2AA
GB

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