Community Dementia Advisor

**Sandwell Community Dementia Service**

The Sandwell Community Dementia Service is delivered by a ‘Provider Collaborative,’ comprising six partner organisations, with Murray Hall Trust as the lead.

Dementia Advisers work with individuals living with dementia and their families throughout their dementia journey. Each Dementia Adviser works within a town location, and if the need arises, in an adjacent area, to support a partner organisation, responding to geographical fluctuations in need. The role within Age UK Sandwell delivers in the town of Wednesbury.

**Principal Duties**

**Sandwell Community Dementia Service**
- To promote the ‘Sandwell Community Dementia Support Service’ within own local town, developing a network of support from health and social care professionals, encouraging referrals to the service through the ‘Single Point of Access’ at the earliest opportunity.
- To provide structured support to both the person with dementia and their carer for all allocated cases, following the agreed service pathway.
- To co-develop with individuals with dementia and their carers and supporters, an agreed wellbeing/support plan, building on the initial assessment of the Dementia Navigator.
- To work collaboratively with Dementia Navigators to develop and deliver ‘Preparing for the Future’ training to support people with dementia and family carers to develop their Advance Care Plans and put in place Lasting Powers of Attorney.
- To develop community networks to encourage and support people with dementia and families to attend arts and leisure activities to optimise their talents, strengths, and interests.
- To signpost carers to local resources at various stages of the journey, if necessary, acting in an advocacy role and accessing information they need, whilst being mindful of the intention to promote independence, choice, and autonomy.
- To build understanding of dementia and coping strategies for people with dementia and families, encouraging them to live well at home for as long as possible.
- To act as a mentor and/or advocate to carers to enable to balance their need with those of the person they care for.
- To ensure that all monitoring and evaluation tools are accurately and fully completed and entered onto the Charity Log Database.
- To develop networks with partner and local organisations and traders with a view to raising awareness of dementia and maintaining a dementia friendly community.
- To attend regular staff meetings and supervision with the Service Development Lead on a regular basis.
- To attend training sessions as required and agreed as part of continued professional development.
- In conjunction with the Service Development Lead and other colleagues, partner organisations within the service, to identify gaps in provision of support services.
- To identify and report any safeguarding concerns

**There is also an additional 7 hours available to deliver dementia friendly activities across all towns of Sandwell until December 2024.**

**Other duties**
- To work to achieve the objectives of the organisations’ Equality and Diversity Policies.
- To undertake any training required for the role and by the organisation.
- To participate in the supervision and appraisal systems adopted by the organisation.
- To undertake any other duties commensurate to the post not specifically mentioned in this job description.

**PERSON SPECIFICATION**

**Experience and Knowledge**:

- Understanding of the impact of living with dementia and their carers
- Experience of using a person-centred approach
- Experience of working within community development, social work, health, or related field
- Experience of working in partnership with other local and statutory organisations
- Ability to work independently and own initiative.
- Demonstrate high level of record keeping with service users and professionals.
- Demonstrate an understanding and experience of working with people from diverse backgrounds with varying needs.
- Understanding and commitment to the principles of good practice in relation to equality and diversity.
- A good knowledge and understanding of safeguarding practices.
- Demonstrate a working knowledge of the Data Protection Act
- Understanding of Health and Safety as it applies to community-based delivery including risk assessment.

**Personal Skills and Attributes**:

- Excellent organisational and time management skills
- Excellent communication skills, being able to speak to people from a wide variety of backgrounds
- Approachable, patient, empathetic and be a strong team player.
- Capable of hands-on problem solving and ability to generate ideas and solutions.
- Ability to communicate effectively, both in writing and verbally, with people at all levels
- Strong interpersonal and relationship building skills.
- Self-motivated and able to work on own initiative.
- Ability to respond to competing demands and to prioritise tasks.
- Ability to work to targets and outputs to achi