Health and Wellbeing Connect Worker - Diabetes Support

Salary: Salary up to £27, 321

Location: East Birmingham 

Hours: Monday - Friday, 36.5 hours per week. 

Contract type: Fixed-term contract until 31st March 2025 (secondments will be considered) 

The Active Wellbeing Society (TAWS) is a community benefit society that works cooperatively to develop healthy, happy communities that live active and connected lives. 

We collaborate with individuals and communities to create stronger and more resilient communities, identifying, mitigating, and removing the barriers that prevent them from living active and connected lives. 

As part of our approach, we are working in partnership with Birmingham East Central PCN to deliver a person-centred and strengths-based health and well-being service for patients managing diabetes. 

The health and wellbeing worker will play a critical role in engaging and supporting diabetic patients in taking an active role in their health and wellbeing. Patients will receive individualised support via telephone and direct support, working towards understanding what is important to the patient to co-create meaningful personalised goals. Patient activation will be key to working with patients to increase their knowledge, skills, and confidence in managing their diabetes. There will be a strong focus on empowering positive lifestyle choices – an approach that identifies and works towards removing barriers to self-care. 

The post holder will have a key role in helping to raise awareness of community assets and signposting patients to local support groups and opportunities available to assist them in achieving their health and well-being goals. The role will also work with the wider TAWS teams to co-design methods of connecting people to each other and to place. 

The successful candidate will have excellent communication skills, empathy, and a track record of forming positive partnership working arrangements. The candidate will collaborate with clinical and non-clinical colleagues, management support, and the wider PCN to ensure that the role delivers the best possible patient outcomes. 

1. Create a safe space to challenge shifts in thinking about positive lifestyle changes. 
2. Support diabetic patients to understand and mitigate the barriers around prioritising their diabetes and overall self-care. 
3. Offer emotional support interventions for diabetic patients with wider mental health conditions. Supporting them in managing levels of anxiety, panic attacks, and depression, which can impact self-care. 
4. Encourage medication adherence, proactive approach to symptom and relapse recognition and lifestyle management. 
5. Increase opportunities to participate in group activities to improve physical and mental health and well-being. 
6. Increase the patient's ability to have improved social interactions with others and participate in purposeful community activities. 
7. Provide Signage and information to support people's access to health, social care, and other third-party specialist organisations. 
8. Reduce vulnerability and risk of abuse by working within the adult safeguarding principles of personalisation and with the appropriate safeguarding leads and agencies. 
9. Carry out appropriate and accurate recording of all contact with patients. 
10. Participate in all aspects of training and development as directed and to use all relevant learning opportunities to improve personal skills, effectiveness and efficiency of service delivery 
11. Participate in case supervision and reflective meetings. 
12. Liaise with other agencies as required 
13. Maintain professional boundaries 
14. Liaise with volunteers where necessary to access wider support. 

1. A community, health, social care, coaching or other relevant experience and/or professional or academic qualification. 
2. A good understanding of a holistic approach to supporting patients in behaviour change. 
3. Skills and experience of providing empowering support to communities/adults in a planned and structured way to improve their health, recovery and well-being outcomes. 
4. Proven skills in collating information and data on community resources and organising these in up-to-date and accessible formats for various service users from various communities. 
5. Excellent written, verbal, listening and presentation skills. 
6. A proven understanding of safeguarding for children and vulnerable adults and the ability to implement relevant policies and procedures. 
7. The ability to work autonomously where needed and to plan, prioritise work under pressure and adapt to new working models. 
8. Ability to work hours in a flexible way and as part of the team to seek feedback, continually improve the service and contribute to business planning. 

We offer our team members a comprehensive staff benefits package to include: 

• Annual Leave – 25-29 days AL plus 5 wellbeing days 
• Health Shield – discounted health benefits against eye examinations/prescriptions. 
• +Plus EAP (counselling and DRs on call 24hrs a day) 
• Death in Service – 4 times your salary paid to a beneficiary. 
• Nest Pension – 8% paid by TAWS, 3 % paid by employee. 
• Flexible working. 
• Bring your own device - £20 towards your phone bill monthly. 

Please submit a Cover Letter and CV addressing the experience you have had relevant to the 'Main Duties' and the 'Knowledge & Skills' sections of the advert, but as a minimum, please address how you meet the following criteria, which will be weighted highly in the first sift of shortlisting: 

1.  Skills and experience in providing empowering support to communities/adults in a planned and structured way to improve their health, recovery and well-being outcomes. 
2. A good understanding of a person-centred approach to supporting patients in behavioural change. 
3. Excellent IT skills, particularly in using applications such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint Outlook email, and computer-based document and file management systems, SystmOne and EMIS. 
4. The ability to work with risk positively within the adult safeguarding principles of personalisation and working with the appropriate safeguarding leads and agencies. 
5. High level of communication skills, building trust and rapport quickly with patients. 

Closing date: 9 September 2024 (midnight) 

Due to the high number of applications we received for our job vacancies, we may close application windows early, so we would encourage you to submit your application ASAP. 

We will provide all applicants with an outcome on your application, usually within 1 week of the application window closing. 

Successful applicants will be required to be DBS checked before starting. 

Our customers come from all walks of life, and so do we; in recruiting for our team, we welcome the unique contributions that you can bring. The Active Wellbeing Society is committed to being an equal-opportunity employer. We recruit based on capability, and all applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership status, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation. At The Active Wellbeing Society, we are searching for people who share the passion for what we do with different backgrounds, perspectives and experiences, collectively making a difference. 

If there is anything we can do to assist you in your application or preparations to be interviewed for one of our job vacancies, please let us know. We can ensure you have a positive and comfortable experience. 

Thank you for your interest in working for The Active Wellbeing Society, we look forward to receiving your application. 

If you have any questions once you have read the Job Description or would like an informal chat about us and/or the role, please contact [email protected] , and we will be happy to help.