Job Description
Job Title: Mums Matter Project Worker
Location: Various sites in Havering, Barking and Dagenham,
Harrow Lodge House, Hornchurch for Mind, Havering, Barking and Dagenham
Salary: £25,334.40 pa, pro rata
Fixed Term contract for 2 years, 24 hours per week
Accountable to: The Management Committee of Havering Mind through the Chief Executive
Responsible to: Project Lead
Liaise with Havering Mind staff and volunteers, statutory agencies; voluntary bodies; Havering Mind clients and carers and other partner organisations.
Main tasks of job:
This is an exciting opportunity to join Mind in Havering, Barking and Dagenham in a key role supporting mums perinatal mental health and wellbeing across local communities in partnership with our Mums Matter lead.
The successful post holder will be required to work with a flexible approach to meet the needs of local communities.
Mums Matter is a structured 8-week course consisting of 2 hourly sessions for mums who are feeling low, stressed, overwhelmed, and anxious, or having worrying thoughts and feelings, and are struggling with the transition to motherhood. The course is run by a lead, with the support of project workers, and there are crèche facilities provided on site, to enable a protected learning space for all mums accessing the programme.
As a Mums Matter Project Worker you will work under the guidance of the Mums Matter lead, building relationships with individual mums, managing your own caseload, observing and contributing to positive group dynamics and peer-relationships, as well as helping mums to identify and make positive changes that will nurture and support their wellbeing.
The Project Worker will deliver this innovative service supporting women experiencing multiple and complex needs during the perinatal period (birth – child’s 3rd birthday).
The service is an early intervention, low intensity service for those with low level (mild to moderate) diagnosed mental health issues or who are at risk of developing mental health issues in the perinatal period, and offers enhanced emotional support for those identified and referred.
The role entails delivering listening and support interventions to a number of groups of women and one session for their key supporters, taking referrals (from self-referred women and others such as health visitors) and liaising with local stakeholders to ensure that the course is advertised widely and suitably.
The project will work with individual women, families and in-group settings throughout the perinatal period, undertaking a range of duties including:
- To undertake comprehensive assessment of a woman’s needs, to include health, psychological and social needs
- To contact, and support women to engage with support and work proactively to secure partner relationships and build referral base
- To work collaboratively with women to develop, implement and review responsive support plans based on individual need, aimed at promoting positive health, mental health and wellbeing and increase mother/baby bonding
- To support women practically and emotionally in relation to assessed and support planned needs and facilitating the safe learning space within sessions
- To manage caseload of assigned women as appropriate, navigate data management systems across all partner requirements, managing high level data analysis and extraction to promote reporting
- To be aware of other outside agencies and support, and support clients to access appropriate agencies in relation to support plan or presenting need
- To attend multi-agency meetings where appropriate and in accordance with support/safety plan needs, additionally to act as an advocate for women within these forums
- To develop relationships with partner organisations to provide a co-ordinated multi agency response to women experiencing multiple and complex needs
- Empowering mums on personal care of women and babies providing information and advice on self-care, infant care and initiating breastfeeding, health promotion, wellbeing and mental health coping strategies to ensure the best possible and positive start to parenting.
- To support within crèche where necessary as directed by lead, to strengthen relationship with crèche workers and create holistic understanding of mother-baby attachment
You will be aiming to prevent escalation of individual to secondary mental health care and improve the bonding and relationship of parent to baby. You will establish and maintain excellent interpersonal skills and effective communication between the multidisciplinary health care teams, women and their families.
Duties and responsibilities
1. To support new mums to understand the emotional needs of their infants and promote secure, positive and increased early attachment to the child, preventing escalation to secondary mental health care
2. To assist Project Lead by implementing the promotion plan for service through effective outreach and materials to enable referrals from the PCN’s Core Network Practices and from a wide range of agencies, including pharmacies, wider multi-disciplinary teams, hospital discharge teams, allied health professionals, fire service, police, job centres, social care services, housing associations, and voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) organisations (list not exhaustive)
3. To be responsible for your client caseload of Mums Matter participants and oversee the development of work and groups, responding to email/telephone enquiries, fielding and distributing to other team member accordingly and responding as directed and ensuring referring of complex issues to Line manager as appropriate
4. To work closely and collaboratively with LBBD /LBH team leads to ensure clear referral pathways are developed into the partnership
5. To work with women and project team to help remove the isolation and dispel the myths of motherhood
6. To provide a safe, therapeutically led and supportive environment for mums struggling to cope with motherhood
7. To provide a place to share feelings whilst focussing on self-care topics, incorporating practical tools such as meditations and breathing techniques.
8. To facilitate bonding between group members to create a support network going forward
9. To provide additional support for participants as well as being able to uphold safeguarding procedures. The role will require managing and prioritising your own caseload, in accordance with the needs, priorities and any urgent support required by individuals on the caseload. It is vital that you have a strong awareness and understanding of when it is appropriate or necessary to refer people back to other health professionals/agencies, when the person’s needs are beyond the scope of the project
10. To support the project lead in building and maintaining positive relationships with key stakeholders and to mobilise team to promote/publicise the service
11. To ensure team maintain all required records of clients to support the running of this project and feed in to reporting required, taking ownership and lead in the statistical, anecdotal, analytical reporting of all project data, compiling and managing Excel spreadsheet data recording and analysis systems
12. To work as part of the organisation’s team and independently within community settings and to recruit and support volunteers to support training delivery and facilitation of peer support model
13. Value diversity and promote equality of opportunity ensuring that individuals are treated fairly and respected for their contribution in terms of experience, knowledge and skills
14. To carry out any other duties required to ensure successful delivery of this project and supporting within the crèche as and when needed and as directed by project lead
General
1. Liaise with outside agencies and members of the public
2. Maintain statistics as required for monitoring purposes
3. Comply with Health and Safety regulations
4. Comply with Mind’s equal opportunities policy
5. Attend regular supervision meetings
6. Undertake any such other duties that are agreed between post holder and committee
7. Undertake training as required for the post and keep up to date with developments
8. Attend regular staff meeting and complete action points
Individual Expectations
1. To take responsibility for own personal development within the role and the wider organisation. We are aware that all our mental health support groups may mean that at times we can also identify with what is being shared through either lived experience or support of someone enduring something similar. At all, times we expect that our workers are able to “hold” any feelings that may arise and remain present and focused on client, to enable the delivery of a safe space for them and person-centered support. All staff expected to attend scheduled Reflective Practice sessions in place.
2. We expect self-awareness to know when to step away from work and prioritise mental health as needed, and utilising annual leave for rest and recovery
3. To be flexible in your approach to work, working autonomously, meeting the demands on your time and workload, being able to priorities work / life balance and role expectations
4. The post holder may also undertake other reasonable duties commensurate with the post holders grade and capabilities as defined by the CEO
The above is not an exhaustive list of duties and you will be expected to perform different tasks as necessitated by your changing role within the organisation and the overall business objectives of the organisation.
Special requirements
This post requires a female applicant and is therefore exempt under schedule 9 /part 1 of the Equality Act 2010
CLOSING DATE: 24th March 2023. We will close early if we receive enough applicants
Personnel Specification
1 EDUCATION/ PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS
Desirable: Educated to QCF Level 3 Health / Mental Health/Social Care/ Advice and Guidance or relevant equivalent
Desirable: Educated to Level 3 Childcare Provision and able to support crèche when needed
Essential: Evidence of additional continuing professional development (CPD) including safeguarding
Essential: Evidence of relevant additional wellbeing, health or parenting intervention and support attainment
2 EXPERIENCE
Essential: Minimum of one year’s relevant experience of working in the mental health sector
Essential: Have the ability to draw on lived experience and “hold” that, to enable person centred focus and support to all clients
Essential: To understand the need to access support for any lived experience in line with our mission to destigmatise mental health and support people in accessing support services
Essential: Knowledge of and/or lived experience of post-natal mental health problems including the stigma surrounding such problems
Essential: Experienced in peer group facilitation and peer supervision, and ability to plan and deliver an agreed programme of support for mothers that promotes attachment to the child and develops parenting skills
Essential: Experience of managing own caseload of clients
Desirable: Experience of delivering guided self-help or other training to people experiencing mental health issues and motivating and leading others in group settings
3. COMPETENCIES
Essential: Able to demonstrate an understanding of the issues affecting individuals recovering from mental ill-health
Essential: Able to demonstrate excellent communication skills, including the ability to contribute to multi-disciplinary meetings and prepare and present reports as required.
Essential: Proven ability to effectively support and work as a member of a team
Essential: Experience of having undertaken client focused, needs based assessment and action planning, signposting and onward referral
Essential: Good understanding of the benefits of peer support in mental health recovery
Essential: Strong commitment to quality assurance, continuous improvement and the delivery of best practice
Essential: Proven ability to deliver business results including target driven projects
Essential: Highly proficient in Microsoft Office with skills in Excel and Teams, and experience in data analysis, case study writing, and reporting
Essential: Experience of report writing
Essential: Proven social media platform skills to promote service and keep up to date information of outreach
Essential: Able to demonstrate flexibility, self-motivation, confidence and ability to use initiative
Essential: Good organisational skills
4 VALUES & BEHAVIOURS
Essential: Ability to demonstrate alignment with Mind in Havering, Barking and Dagenham’s values and organisational behaviours
Essential: Demonstrate a key understanding of the principles of professional boundaries and confidentiality
Essential: Demonstrate an understanding of equality and diversity practices and values and support all practices and policies within Mind in Havering, Barking and Dagenham’s drive and commitment to become an anti-racist Organisation.
ADDITIONAL
Desirable: Current full driving licence, valid in the UK and access to a car on appointment or access to a form of transport which will permit them to carry out the duties and requirements of the post in full
Essential: Willing to travel across Havering and Barking & Dagenham to support other projects in the organisation, and for outreach for the project
Essential: To undertake other additional duties as may be reasonably assigned according to the changing priorities of the service and the needs of the client group
Essential: The successful candidate will be required to undergo an Enhanced check via the DB Service before commencement of employment
SALARY
£13.92 ph
A mileage allowance is payable for the use of a private vehicle on company business
HOURS OF WORK
24 hours per week
Job Type: Fixed term contract
Contract length: 24 months
Salary: £25,334.40 per year
Benefits:
- Casual dress
- Company pension
- Cycle to work scheme
- Employee discount
- Free parking
- On-site parking
- Sick pay
- Store discount
Day range:
COVID-19 considerations:
We are following Government guidelines
Education:
- GCSE or equivalent (preferred)
Work Location: Hybrid remote in Hornchurch
Application deadline: 24/03/2023
Reference ID: Mums Matter Project Worker
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