Expert by Experience

Time commitment: This initial role is for a pilot project to attend a 1.5hr online focus group.

Are you passionate about making a difference in mental health services? Do you have personal experience of accessing Healios mental health service yourself as a young person, or as a parent/carer of a young person? Do you have a desire to use your experience to drive meaningful change? If so, we are excited to announce our new Expert by Experience (EbE) roles. Experts by Experience (EbE) are an integral part of our work here at Healios. We value lived experience and collaboration. EbEs will work alongside clinicians and other areas of the business to support service design and development. An EbEs main role is to bring a valuable viewpoint that comes from their own personal experience of accessing Healios services. EbEs offer insights into how we shape our services, our communications and in helping us to identify where we can make improvements to better support our clients.

We currently have vacancies for 2 young people (aged 14‑20 years old) who have accessed the service themselves, and 2 parent/carers of young people who have accessed the service to take part in our pilot project. If the project is extended, and you wish to continue to be involved, you would not be required to reapply.

Main duties and responsibilities:

• Providing opinions and suggestions for our website design
• Reviewing and amending how we communicate with clients
• Giving feedback on our services and our pathways
• Supporting with staff training through sharing lived experience
• Supporting with recruitment and interviewing
• Helping to tackle the stigma associated with accessing mental health services
• Being an ambassador for Healios – whether through providing social media content for our marketing team or attending events
• Identifying / Supporting quality improvement projects

There may be opportunities to attend events to represent Healios in person or online. This is something you may be able to be involved in, if interested.

Person Specification:

• Has lived experience as a young person who has accessed support and treatment from Healios mental health services within the last 12 months / or as a parent/carer of a young person who has accessed Healios mental health services.
• Has a basic understanding of protecting personal information (i.e. confidentiality when discussing things in a group setting)
• Ability to challenge issues relating to stigma and discrimination in a respectful manner.
• Independent thinker.
• Confident in using technology e.g. working with PDF documents, emails, accessing video calls etc.
• Access to own device and able to access online meetings (access to internet and device with video camera).
• Able to work on tasks independently
• Excellent team working skills
• Able to work independently to meet required deadlines
• An ability to maintain confidentiality and trust
• Experience of delivering support to peers
• Good written communication skills e.g. emails, commenting on documents, providing feedback
• Experience of presenting / public speaking e.g. either virtually or in person

If you're interested in this role, please send a short letter to careers@healios.org.uk. It should cover:

• What service you received from Healios mental health services and when? You do not need to go into detail, we would just like to know which service you accessed and for how long to get an understanding of your experience as a client and/or parent/carer
• Why you would like to become an Expert by Experience.
• Any relevant skills or experiences that you feel make you a good fit for this role.

We believe that having diverse perspectives is important, particularly to ensure that our services can be inclusive and accessible for all clients and families. We encourage applications from individuals from all backgrounds and lived experiences.

What happens after you apply:

We will review your application and aim to be in contact with you to let you know the outcome within 2 weeks of the closing date. If you are successful at this first stage, you will be invited to an online interview.

ACCOMMODATIONS:

We’re glad to accommodate candidates who need adjustments throughout the hiring process and we’re always learning about different accessibility needs to ensure our hiring process is accessible for all candidates. We encourage you to be open about the adjustments you need so we can adapt our interview process.

DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION:

Do the right thing is one of our core Healios values. And building a diverse and inclusive workplace where everyone feels supported is absolutely the right thing to do. Whether we’re developing a new service line or enhancing one of our products, we need people with different skills, backgrounds, identities and perspectives to ensure our innovations will work for the children and young people we are here to serve. By embracing diversity, we can deliver better care experiences and outcomes, while tackling the inequalities in healthcare provision that exist today.