Health Coach in Sheffield

Would you like to work within Primary Care and Mental Health, a service delivered in partnership with MIND and SHSC, which ensures that the people of Sheffield have excellent local, joined up, sustainable primary and community mental health support to enable them to live their lives to the full? The job purpose is to contribute to improving health and reducing diseases associated with lifestyle, by supporting people to develop healthier behaviours and contributing to delivery of the service aims and standards in line with national and Primary and Community Mental Health Transformation (PCMHT) programme priorities.

Where appropriate focussing on the wider determinants of health and facilitating access to community based support to help people self-care and address issues of loneliness and isolation. Identifying and making contact with patients to encourage uptake of NHS physical health checks. Completing physical health checks including drawing blood from patients. Working with a defined population using behaviour change techniques with individuals and groups to empower them to identify, make, and sustain positive lifestyle changes to improve their health and wellbeing.

Main duties of the job:

• The post holder will play a crucial role in coordinating and supporting the development and implementation of the project and completing some health checks on a citywide basis. This will require ongoing and close liaison with key stakeholders as part of a partnership approach.
• The successful applicant must be able to demonstrate that they are able to communicate effectively with patients.

About us:

Primary Care Sheffield (PCS) is a GP-led organisation. Our shareholders are 75 GP practices in Sheffield covering over half a million patients. As well as providing a unified voice for general practice in the city, we play an active role both within our Accountable Care Partnership (ACP) and the wider South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw Integrated Care System (ICS).

Job responsibilities:

• To work as part of the wider multi-disciplinary team and with partners to support individuals to improve their physical, emotional and social health and wellbeing by coaching individuals and groups to identify and initiate opportunities for change.
• Using the principles of Making Every Contact Count (MECC) supporting individuals to make informed choices about their health and wellbeing and supporting them in initiating and sustaining appropriate behavioural changes to improve their physical, emotional and social wellbeing.
• Work with the wider system to ensure a co-ordinated approach to care and support planning across primary care, secondary care, and community settings.
• Helping people to find and use the right services to support health improvement.
• Identifying new referral pathways and strengthening existing ones into the health trainer service.
• To work with city wide physical health check strategies to undertake capacity building work.
• Recording and reporting activities and results.
• Acts within standard operating procedures.
• Able to work independently within role boundaries and under the management and guidance of the line manager and wider team.

Communications and Relationships:

• Exchanges factual information with patients using persuasion, reassurance, tact, empathy; may overcome barriers to understanding.
• To support the identification of health needs and undertake as appropriate the planning, implementation and evaluation of individual care interventions.
• The ability to communicate clear and accurate information to patients on a range of health related issues.
• Provide advice, instruction and training to small groups of patients and other health professionals.
• To develop working relationships within a variety of different organisations and teams.
• The ability to communicate effectively with a range of staff across disciplines, grades and organisations.
• The ability to communicate with people from the local community from a variety of backgrounds where there may be barriers to understanding (learning disabilities, mental health needs etc.) in a supportive and non-judgemental manner.
• To be able to communicate potentially sensitive information to patients and other health professionals.
• Produce accurate written records of activities and work undertaken.

Analytical Skills:

• Makes judgements involving facts or situations, some requiring analysis.
• Assess patients condition through basic test results, assess comfort of patients and instigate emergency procedures as necessary.
• To participate in the collection of data to monitor and evaluate individual progress and service performance.
• To be able to collect service user data (e.g. height, weight, blood pressure, etc.) to enable assessment of a suitable individually tailored personal health plan.
• To support effective evaluation systems within the public health service.

Planning & Organisational Skills:

• Plans and organises activities, some ongoing such as meetings, training, events.
• Attend, contribute and participate in relevant meetings.
• To demonstrate a knowledge of external agencies (including voluntary and community sector), who could be involved in patient care and work in partnership with these agencies under the direct/indirect supervision of an appropriate senior practitioner.
• To be able to plan own workload within role boundaries and under the management and guidance of the line manager and wider team.
• To plan and deliver sessions to identify and engage with individuals and groups to raise awareness of lifestyle issues.
• To support individuals to develop an action plan to change behaviours and sustain those behaviours, leading to more healthy choices and actions.
• To support individuals personal health plans over time and review and revise these plans with individuals as appropriate.
• To plan own work to ensure that individual targets and workload commitments are being met.
• Liaise with a variety of organisations in order maintain and develop links with the community.
• To enter all client information regularly into an electronic database.
• Ability to manage own time effectively.
• To complete all relevant mandatory training as and when required to do so.

Physical Skills:

• Physical skills obtained through practice.
• Hand eye co-ordination required when using test equipment manipulating wheelchairs or equipment.
• Computer literacy and keyboard skills.
• The ability to safely move and handle displays and training equipment.
• There will be some requirement for light physical effort on a regular basis.
• To be able to move around the city, and visit patients at home; access to a car and driving licence would be beneficial.

In partnership with patient implements a plan for improving health and wellbeing:

• Identify and use opportunities to promote healthy lifestyles e.g. reduce alcohol intake, nutrition, physical activity, with individuals and groups.
• Undertakes a range of interventions with individuals and groups.
• To develop and maintain relationships with individuals, carers and families to educate facilitate and promote change.
• To support individuals personal health plans over time and review and revise these plans with individuals as appropriate.
• To signpost individuals to other appropriate services to further support their health and wellbeing needs.

This is not an exhaustive list of duties and responsibilities, and the post holder may be required to undertake other duties, which fall within the grade of the job, in discussion with their line manager. This job description will be reviewed regularly in the light of changing service requirements and any such changes will be discussed with the post holder.

Person Specification:

Qualifications: Level 3 Health Trainer certificate.
Experience: Experience of working as part of a team. Verbal communication skills ability to deal with people confidently in person and on the telephone. Awareness and ability to operate within data protection and confidentiality requirements. Proven experience in prioritising workload to ensure priorities are flagged up. Experience of working in the NHS or similar role. Experience of System One clinical system.
Skills/Abilities: IT skills: Use of Microsoft Office, Outlook Calendars, Organisational skills (organising appointments and events). Knowledge of care and related procedures, some clinical observations and blood pressure monitoring. Understanding of the broad concepts of health and the health services. A knowledge and understanding of the underlying determinants of health and issues facing people in communities in Sheffield particularly those in areas of multiple deprivations. Skilled phlebotomist.
Disclosure and Barring Service Check: This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.