Senior Peer Support Worker | NELFT NHS Foundation Trust

Senior Peer Support Worker (BAND 4; 1.6 WTE; Fixed Term: 1 year in first instance)

Stigma and discrimination can have a serious impact on the wellbeing of people who experience psychosis and can impact personal recovery. Peer-delivered interventions that are designed to support people with psychosis who have been personally impacted by stigma show promise, but to date most trials have been small and have focused on feasibility rather than efficacy of the peer interventions.

Following the success of our NIHR funded feasibility trial, Let’s Talk 1, the Let’s Talk 2 Trial has now been funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) through the Efficacy and Mechanisms Evaluation (EME) programme

The Let’s Talk 2 trial is a 32-month randomised controlled trial, jointly led by Professor Tony Morrison and Dr Melissa Pyle at the Psychosis Research Unit, Let’s Talk 2 builds on the success of Lets Talk 1 and our track record of collaborative research on psychosocial interventions for people with experience of psychosis by evaluating the possible benefits of a peer-delivered intervention called Let’s Talk which aims to aid mental health disclosure decision making.

We will compare the Let’s Talk peer-delivered intervention to standard care from Early Intervention in Psychosis Services and Community Mental Health Teams. We will conduct this research across four areas in the UK (Avon and Wiltshire, Greater Manchester, North East London and South London).

NELFT’s Research and Development Department is seeking to appoint 2 peer support workers (PSWs) to work on the Let’s Talk 2 Trial. The Let’s Talk PSWs will be primarily responsible for delivering the peer-delivered intervention Let’s Talk. The Let’s talk intervention is a semi-structured approach to supporting people with psychosis who are experiencing internalised stigma and who report concerns about talking about their psychosis experiences or concealing their experiences because of stigma.

You will have lived experience of psychosis and experience of working in a relevant peer support role. You will be able to work in an independent and autonomous fashion handling a diverse caseload. You will uphold peer values of supporting and promoting recovery as a user led concept, emphasise hope and optimism, value learning through lived experience and focus on strengths rather than deficits.

Supervision is provided for all duties from Dr Lisa Wood, Consultant Clinical Psychologist & site lead for Let\’s Talk 2 in NELFT.

As the post will involve travel within the North East London area.

We are an equal opportunities employer and welcome applications from all sections of the community. We are committed to supporting and investing in our local communities and prioritise applications from individuals who live within the areas we serve.

Please note that this post is not eligible for sponsorship and you must have the right to work in the UK at the time of application.

We encourage you to refer closely to the attached job description and person specification for more information about this role and working at North East London NHS Foundation Trust.

We are committed to equal opportunities and welcome applications from all sections of the community. NELFT is a Disability Confident Employer and we promote equality, diversity, and inclusion in the workplace.