Eating Disorders Parent/Carer Peer Support Worker (12-month FTC)

at  Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust

The role of Eating Disorders Peer Support Worker (PSW) has been developed specifically for people who have personal lived experience of being a parent/carer of a young person who has accessed Eating Disorder Services. Through sharing wisdom from their own experiences, the Eating Disorders Parent/Carer PSW will inspire hope and belief that recovery is possible, and support parents/carers through their own recovery journey.
As an integral and highly valued member of the multi-disciplinary team, the Eating Disorders Parent/Carer PSW will provide formalised peer support and practical assistance to parents and carers in order for them to regain control over their lives and their own unique recovery journey as a parent or carer of a young person accessing eating disorder services. They will also work collaboratively with others to assist in improving the wellbeing of parents/carers of individuals accessing eating disorder services.
Through sharing the wisdom of their own lived experience of caring for a young person with recovery from an eating disorder, the Eating Disorders Parent/Carer PSW will inspire hope and belief that recovery is possible. Within a relationship of mutuality, they will facilitate and support information sharing to promote choice, self-determination and opportunities for the fulfilment of socially valued roles and connection to local communities.
Clinical Responsibilities
To work with the multi-disciplinary teams across both the adult and child and adolescent eating disorder service in the support of parents/carers of young people accessing eating disorder services, ensuring the needs or parents/carers are met through promoting strengths-based practice
Communication
To form professional peer-based relationships with young people, their parent(s)/carer(s) and family, communicating with them in a way that respects their views, autonomy and culture.
Service Development and Delivery
To raise the profile of peer support both within CNWL, and externally, through co-delivery of presentations, workshops, and participation in Trust–wide peer related projects and audits: and information sharing as required and as agreed with the line manager.
Learning and Development
To make full use of supervision, peer support with other peer workers and other support as necessary in order to remain well and safe in the parent/carer peer support role, and in order to work with the challenges of using lived experience to support people with potentially difficult and distressing issues.
Documentation
To ensure timely and accurate recording of clinical related data and information on the electronic patient record system.
As a core member of a busy multi-disciplinary team, the Eating Disorders Parent/Carer PSW will carry out some generic duties. They will work alongside parents/carers of young people accessing eating disorder services on a 1:1 basis and in a group setting. The Eating Disorders Parent/Carer PSW will also have the opportunity to co-work with other colleagues.
The Eating Disorders Parent/Carer PSW will take a lead role in embedding recovery values within the service setting in which they work, alongside other Trust recovery champions, and act as an ambassador of recovery for the Trust with external agencies and partner organisations and also work alongside the Patient and Carer Involvement Team.
The Eating Disorders Parent/Carer PSW will also work with the Recovery and Wellbeing College (RWBC) in order to deliver local courses appropriate to parents/carers of young people accessing eating disorder services.
Hear from our staff what it’s like working with our CNWL Eating Disorders service, please CLICK HERE to watch the video
The successful applicant may have contact with patients or service users. As an NHS Trust we strongly encourage and support vaccination as this remains the best way to protect yourself, your family, your colleagues and of course patients and service users when working on our healthcare settings.
Clinical Responsibilities
To assume a ‘coaching’ role supporting parent/carers in thinking about their own personal recovery plans in relation to being a parent/carer; this can be delivered individually or in groups.
To be supported to develop, create promotional materials and undertake a ‘carers clinic’ - a one to one, short term intervention for friends and family of the current cohort of service users, supporting them to develop skills and attend to their own mental health while being in the caring role
To work with members of the MDT to create and utilise evaluation tools in order to assess the impact of the role
To assist parents/carers to identify their own strengths, personal interests and goals, emphasising the importance of their own wellbeing in order to best support the person accessing services.
To support parents/carers in making sense of the experiences of mental and emotional distress of the young person they are parent/carer to and involving the young person in these conversations as much as possible and appropriate. This might include understandings of personal and social recovery, health and wellbeing, personal and social identity whilst recognising that each individual’s recovery is a distinctive and deeply personal process.
To support parents/carers in making sense of their own experiences of mental and emotional distress in relation to the challenges the young person is facing, being highly sensitive to their use of language and descriptions of experiences.
To share wisdom, mentor around recovery processes and demonstrate coping skills, using own experience of caring for a young person who has experienced recovery from an eating disorder.
To act as a role model to inspire hope, share life experiences and lessons learned as a person who has cared for a young person in recovery.
To work with some autonomy with complex safety considerations for individuals across community and inpatient contexts
Working jointly with highly skilled colleagues from a variety of professional backgrounds to develop and co-facilitate carer interventions and ensure co-production is modelled within the care provided
To be attuned to sensitive safeguarding issues as they may present within the relevant cohort of patients, their friends and family and is able to utilise supervision to ensure safety and risk is managed in a recovery focussed, timely manner
To attend team meetings and contribute to the assessment, planning, implementation and review of care with the multi-disciplinary team.
To work together with the young person and their parents/carers in the drawing up of care plans, encouraging and motivating young people and their parents/carers to take an active role in the care plan.
To incorporate and promote the ‘Triangle of Care’ within MDT working practice and decision making.
To positively promote and support parents/carers’ engagement in the community by maintaining extensive knowledge and links with community resources and actively supporting parents/carers to access them, maximising parent’s/carer’s opportunities for socially valued roles and positive identity.
To assist in the development and implementation of educational and peer facilitated parent/carer support groups and activities.
To assist parents/carers to maintain a connection with their life beyond being a parent/carer of a young person accessing services.
To accept and respect parent/carer’s personal beliefs, uniqueness and identity.
Communication
To meet, welcome, introduce and orientate the young person, their parent/carer and families to the service.
To support the parent/carers to prepare for meetings regarding the care of the young person as appropriate e.g. assessments, CPA meetings etc.
To help parents/carers to access information on health promotion, mental and physical wellbeing.
To develop good working relationships with the multidisciplinary team, liaising with other agencies as appropriate.
To monitor the young person and parent/carers’ progress, reporting any progress and areas of concern to the multi-disciplinary team (verbally & electronic record keeping systems).
To assist the parents/carers to understand their rights and choices within the service.
Report any untoward incidents or unusual occurrences to the manager/senior clinician immediately.
To ensure that communication with young people, their parents/carers and families, other staff and general public reflects Trust values at all times.
Service Development and Delivery
To maintain up to date knowledge of legislation, national and local policies and issues in relation to eating disorders, peer support, Carers Act and mental health.
To comply with all relevant Trust policies, procedures and guidelines, including those relating to Equal Opportunities, Health and Safety and Confidentiality of Information and to be aware of any changes in these.
To be aware of, teach others and challenge issues in relation to stigma, low expectations and anti-discriminatory practice as appropriate.
To read and understand the statutory requirements of the Mental Health Act 1983 and Children’s Act.
To attend clinical, business & service development meetings as required.
Learning and Development
To participate in Trust mandatory training & development opportunities considered appropriate to the PSW’s role and as identified in the Personal Development Plan (PDP).
To undertake the accredited ‘Developing Expertise in Peer Support’ Level 4 module delivered through City University.
To contribute and commit to undertaking an annual Development review/Appraisal.
To engage in Peer Support supervision as stated in our Trustwide policies.
To receive regular line management supervision as arranged by the team manager

Please refer the Job description for details