AGE UK CHESHIRE
JOB DESCRIPTION
JOB TITLE: Dementia Advisor
LOCATION: Cheshire East
OFFICE BASE: Brierley Business Centre, Crewe
ACCOUNTABLE TO: Supporting You Senior Co-ordinator
DATE WRITTEN: April 2013
Primary Purpose:
To establish, develop and maintain a Dementia Advice Service for older people with dementia and their carers in Cheshire East, in partnership with the Alzheimer’s Society and Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service, maintaining the health, safety and welfare of clients suffering from dementia in line with the Dementia Strategy and the contract for the service.
Main Duties
1. To provide the first point of access following referral into the Dementia Advice Service, providing a service that is tailored to individual need and is co-ordinated and linked into local developments, including improving access to services for those who are seldom heard.
2. To provide an extended information and signposting service to immediate carers, families and friends of the people who are referred to the service. To provide help and support to the family to understand the nature and progression of dementia including the pro-active steps that can be taken in agreeing to future interventions and forward planning.
3. To work with the Supporting You Senior Co-ordinator to develop and deliver a comprehensive, holistic, home assessment for people with a diagnosis of dementia with clear pathways for referral, signposting and review.
4. To focus on promoting independence, self help, wellbeing and choice, utilising existing networks (e.g. Get Active, Home Safety Assessments, Falls Prevention, income maximisation, financial planning, mentoring & befriending, advocacy, life-long learning etc) to provide a range of practical solutions to improve each individual’s outcomes and quality of life, reflecting the emerging learning from the National Dementia Advice Pilots.
5. To help people to navigate and access appropriate services, ensuring that they are able to make contact with the right person for help and helping them to do so as necessary.
6. Facilitate access to the resources of Cheshire Fire and Rescue, making use of the advanced information sharing via SPRINGBOARD, to seek out those living with dementia who have been traditionally hard to reach.
7. Utilise technology in the form of a personal digital assistant (PDA) to undertake a holistic home safety assessment at each stage of the dementia journey.
8. Achieve targets of client contact as agreed by Age UK Cheshire and Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service which will be recorded on the PDA
9. To work with the Dementia Advisors employed by the Alzheimer’s Society to develop and utilise a local Dementia Directory and Toolkit, to provide contemporary and accessible information.
10. To establish and maintain effective working relationships with partner organisations with the aim of promoting control and empowering individuals to make informed choices. To represent Age UK Cheshire at relevant meetings and to be the key contact for partners on their dementia strategies for key wards in the community.
11. To promote and market the service, establishing and maintaining key networks and referral pathways to increase the effectiveness of the service, e.g. Memory Clinics, dementia café’s, older people’s groups, etc
12. To monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the Dementia Advice Service in Cheshire East according to agreed criteria and outcomes, including any gaps in service provision. To be actively involved in contract negotiations and participate in all evaluation and monitoring procedures.
13. To work with the Supporting You Senior Co-ordinator and the senior management team to ensure that spending is within the programme budget.
14. To ensure that records (including the CRM database) and statistics about the work of the Service are maintained and to provide full reports and statistics on a regular basis. To ensure that records are kept according to Age UK Cheshire’s data protection principles.
15. To assist the senior management team in regard to determining future development of the services and to take lead responsibility for specific areas of work as delegated by the Head of Charity Services.
16. To work according to the standards required by the contract and the policies, procedures and quality standards of Age UK Cheshire.
17. To promote the services of Age UK Cheshire and to participate in fund-raising activities for Age UK Cheshire.
18. To undertake such duties as may, from time to time, be reasonably requested within the flexible definition of this post or as requested by the Chief Executive.
DEMENTIA ADVISOR
PERSON SPECIFICATION
ESSENTIAL / DESIRABLE· A commitment to empowering older people to have choice and control over their own care.
· A sound knowledge and understanding of the issues that affect the lives of older people (such as community care, mental health and dementia, housing, benefits, debt, etc.)
· Experience of mental health issues, particularly dementia and an understanding of the needs of people with dementia and their carers
· Understanding of the difficulties faced by disadvantaged groups in accessing information and advice services
· Good organisational skills including information, resources and time management, an ability to work on own initiative and under pressure
· Excellent interpersonal skills, able to motivate self and others, able to set and manage priorities
· Effective communication skills, both written and oral including case note recording and report writing.
· Experience of service promotional work.
· IT skills, including word processing and databases, internet and e-mail
· Able to communicate at all levels and to work with a wide range of people from the statutory, voluntary and private sectors
· Ability to take a customer service perspective
· Have the ability to travel freely across Cheshire / · Experience of working with volunteers, i.e. recruitment, selection and support and training.
· Knowledge of relevant legislation including the Health & Safety and the Mental Capacity Act
· Knowledge of the structure and organisation of local and health authorities.
· Counselling or listening skills training.
· Supervisory experience
· Experience of using information technology to deliver information and advice
· Use of own transport for business purposes
AGE UK CHESHIRE
DEMENTIA ADVISOR JOB DESCRIPTION
Additional Information
The Dementia Strategy was launched by the Council and Central and Eastern Cheshire PCT in 2010. The Joint Strategic Needs Assessment for Cheshire East estimated there were 5,040 people with dementia (2007). The dementia population is expected to rise from 5,100 (2008) to 6,817 by 2025. This is an increase of 61% which will place unprecedented pressure on health and social care systems. Many family carers of people with dementia are older and frail themselves, with mental or physical health needs. People can live with dementia for several years after diagnosis.
The National Dementia Strategy published in February 2009, identified 17 key objectives, including one to enable easy access to care, support and advice following diagnosis. The Dementia Advice Service (DAS) for Cheshire East is being established to facilitate easy access to appropriate care, support and advice for people with dementia and their carers. The aim of DAS will be to work towards addressing the current gaps of information provision about dementia across the borough and help those living with dementia to access a range of services that would improve the quality of their lives and assists them at times of need on the dementia journey from pre diagnosis to end of life care.
The DAS for Cheshire East will be run in partnership with Age UK Cheshire, the Alzheimer’s Society and Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service. The Alzheimer’s Society will focus on the emotional support and Age UK Cheshire/CFRS will provide more practical based solutions. The Advisors will provide both emotional support and access to the practical interventions and preparation for future life changes, and they would be available at times of need or transition.
The DAS would provide a highly responsive information and signposting support service which would be person centred to people with dementia as the first priority, and then to immediate carers, families and friends of the people who are referred to the service. This service could also be extended to help other professionals working with people with dementia to provide a quality service.
The service combining support and practical interventions would play a key role in reducing the need to access more acute services, and in supporting the building of resilience and social capital within our communities. As this is a new service the job holder will be responsible for establishing and developing it into the future, this may include recruiting and training volunteers to help support service delivery.
This post will be based at Age UK Cheshire’s office at Brierley Business Centre, Crewe and will cover the Cheshire East borough.
The post holder will be expected to comply with Age UK Cheshire's policies regarding equal opportunities, health and safety and confidentiality. Age UK Cheshire has achieved the Advice Quality Standard and staff based within our Information Services are expected to work to the standards within this quality mark.
Hours: full time, 36.25 hours per week.
Salary: £19,132 per annum.
Travel: The nature of the job will require travel across Cheshire East. The job holder will need to be able to meet this requirement. Travelling expenses will be paid for travel incurred in the course of duty (paid at Inland Revenue dispensation rate – currently 45p per mile).
Holiday Entitlement: Five weeks leave p.a. (excluding Bank Holidays) rising after 5 years continuous service by one day per year (pro rata) to a maximum of 6 weeks leave after 10 years.
Contract: All new staff are subject to a six month probationary period. One month’s notice is required to terminate employment by either side i.e. the employee or Age UK Cheshire. During the probationary period, one week’s notice is required by either side.
Funding: Current funding for this post is available until 31st March 2014. The continuation of the service after this date will be subject to further funding being available.
Pension: Age UK Cheshire has a stakeholder pension scheme in place for eligible employees.
Health Care: After the 6 months probationary period staff will automatically join the Age UK Cheshire’s Health Care Cash Plan and will be entitled to receive healthcare benefits.
Childcare Vouchers: After the 6 months probationary period staff will have the option to make use of the Age UK Cheshire Childcare Voucher scheme (available to eligible staff whilst in receipt of salary).
Criminal Disclosure: The post holder will be subject to police checking by the Disclosure & Barring Service (was CRB) Enhanced Disclosure.
Age UK Cheshire is a Mindful Employer and positive actions will be taken to ensure that people will not be excluded from working for Age UK Cheshire because of their age, race, ethnicity, faith, marital status, sexual orientation, gender, physical or mental health.
Applications should be made by completing an Age UK Cheshire application form to be received by the HR Department no later than 5 pm on Friday 31st May 2013