Barking and Dagenham Homeless Health Peer Advocate

 

Main Functions:

• Supporting clients to gain access to healthcare by helping to make appointments.
• Accompanying clients to and from health appointments.
• Supporting clients to better understand their health needs and receive appropriate support.
• Encouraging clients to consider their health as a priority.
• Advocating on behalf of clients to ensure treatment for any health issues.

Overview: We are looking for volunteers who have experience of homelessness to support people who are currently homeless to help them to access healthcare.

As a Homeless Health Peer Advocate you will:

• Visit homelessness services in Barking and Dagenham to speak to homeless clients about their health.
• Deliver one-to-one engagements to enable people experiencing homelessness to make and attend health appointments.
• Support occasional group work sessions to help people better understand their health concerns and encourage clients to attend health appointments.
• Accompany clients to a variety of appointments, including doctors, hospital, dental and many more.

Peer Advocates focus on building the skills and confidence to enable clients to continue accessing health services independently.

Is this project for me?

Qualities of a Homeless Health Peer Advocate

 

The ideal Peer Advocate will:

• Be a good listener who is interested in others and what they have to offer.
• Be confident to speak about their own experiences.
• Treat others in a non-judgemental way and with respect.
• Be committed and reliable.
• Understand the importance of boundaries and be comfortable to ask for support when needed.
• Be keen to learn new skills.

Skills and experience needed in a Homeless Health Peer Advocate

The ideal Peer Advocate should:

• Have a lived experience of homelessness.
• Be willing to travel.
• Practice good time keeping.
• Have good verbal and written communication skills.
• Be secure in recovery if relevant.

 

What do I get in return?

Participating in this project will give you the opportunity to:

• Learn new skills and gain experience which can add to your CV.
• Take part in an extensive training package and get a certificate for taking part.
• Gain insight into the health inequalities faced by homeless people which will be used to change the way services are run.
• Get to know Mind Havering Barking and Dagenham’s work and be an important part in the organisation’s growth and development.
• All travel costs involved in the project will be covered by Mind Havering Barking and Dagenham
• Get support to investigate your own progression and future goals.

 

Time commitment

• Six weeks of training (three days per week) to be held at a central location (tbc)
• We ask that you are able to offer at least 5 hours a week following training.
• Homeless Health Peer Advocates will escort clients to their physical health appointments across London. These appointments are likely to last between 2-4 hours including travel but may last longer.
• Team meetings will be held once a week in Mind Havering Barking and Dagenham’s Office in Hornchurch and will run for one hour.
• You will also be expected to attend a 90-minute reflective practice session monthly.

 

Please click here to apply.

 

This activity is organised externally and is not a Council role.