Peer Facilitator

Job summary

Do you have experience of using mental health services and working as a peer facilitator in Early Intervention services? Would you like to use these experiences to support other people and their families receiving these services?

Can you inspire hope and belief that recovery is possible - empowering our service users to achieve their hopes, dreams and goals?

Are you are willing to share your own experiences with others, if so we are looking to recruit Peer Facilitators with lived experience of using mental health services to join our East Early Intervention Facilitators will receive support and training to enable them to carry out the day-to-day duties of the post and as employees of the Trust, will have full access to our staff health and wellbeing offer, including supervision and other occupational health services.

Personal Qualities ideal for the role:

Having an empathic understanding of a service users' experience when admitted to a mental health inpatient unit that is supported by the following:

Ability to encourage participation, good communication skills or willingness to develop these Ability to listen without bias and to objectively see both sides of an issue Ability to feedback information in a constructive manner Ability to use lived experience in a positive and appropriate way with an awareness of own personal recovery journey

The post holder will work within our East Lancashire Early Intervention Service.

Main duties of the job

Peer support is based on the recognition that there is no better person to support the path towards recovery than someone who has walked the same path as that individual, and could support an individual to develop a career within the NHS.

The Peer Support Facilitator will provide formalised peer support and practical assistance to service users in order for them to regain control over their lives and their own unique recovery process. The Peer Support Facilitator will come alongside a service user through their recovery journey.

Peer Support Facilitators work as part of our teams and in collaboration with other colleagues within the team. Peer Support Facilitators engage with service users to show empathy, share experience, inspire hope and promote recovery with the aim of assisting service users to gain and maintain independence in the community.

The role will include 1:1 and group work and Peer Support Facilitators will support service users in developing pre-vocational skills. Pre-vocational interventions will be delivered by the Peer Support Facilitator and these will support service users to increase their confidence and work ability, develop a daily routine and engage in other opportunities that will assist with their recovery.

Peer support Facilitators draw on lived experiences to bring hope and raise aspirations to increase opportunities to access employment support, to those using services. Encourage and inspire a recovery focus amongst team colleagues.

About us

Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust provides a range of services including secondary mental health care across this area. Specialist provision comprises inpatient child and adolescent mental health services, perinatal mental health and forensic services including low and medium secure care.

The Trust also provides a range of physical health and well-being services in the community alongside a range of partners in the Lancashire, Cumbria and Sefton area.

Lancashire & South Cumbria Foundation Trust encourages flexible working, we believe that a positive work/life balance benefits NHS employees through improved health and wellbeing. We would consider working patterns such as; term time, part time, compressed hours, flexi-time and career breaks. We encourage applicants to state clearly on their application forms this request and discuss these options at interview.

For more information please visit our website via Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS FT

Job description

Job responsibilities

Please see attached the job description and person specification for more information about this role.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

English language literacy and numeracy skills to the standard necessary to provide clear, understandable records Willingness to develop self through engaging in training and or other special interest training Completion of own personal recovery plan such as the Health and Wellbeing Recovery Action Plan (WRAP) and or advanced statement

Knowledge

Essential

Able to relate to a wide range of people, with excellent interpersonal skills Professional in behaviour and appearance Able to manage conflict and to help others do so

Experience

Essential

Personal lived experience of mental health problems Experience of recovering a meaningful life Experience of being in a supportive and enabling role

---