Physical Health & Wellbeing Navigator

Rethink Mental Illness are an organisation whose common purpose is to help those who are severely impacted by mental illness. Imagine being part of an organisation whose common purpose is to help those who are severely impacted by mental illness. We believe that everyone should be treated with respect and dignity – and that’s why equity is one of our core values. 

We are currently recruiting for an experienced and Passionate Physical Health & Wellbeing Navigator as a part of Somerset's Open Mental Health Service.

People with serious mental illness (SMI) face a greater risk of developing preventable physical illnesses that can significantly decrease their quality and length of life. They are 2-4 times as likely to develop cardiovascular disease, 2-4 times more at risk of developing a respiratory disease and 5 times more at risk of developing diabetes.

As a Physical Health & Wellbeing Navigator you will work as part of the Community & Outreach Support team. The team provide time limited, person centred support to people with a severe mental illness (SMI) or personality disorder, working with them before during and/or after the SMI physical health check.  This may include exploring their barriers to engaging with clinical staff and services, their concerns about the Physical health Check itself, attending appointments with them or helping to access services to improve their physical health as well as supporting them to explore ways to increase their wellbeing and physical health more generally.

This is a part time role (21-30 hours per week) which is “field based” meaning you will work from home and across the locality area of Mendip and South Somerset and other areas of Somerset on occasions. You will be provided with IT equipment required for this role including a laptop and smartphone, travel expenses will be covered.

You will work within an innovative and creative team providing high-quality, safe and person-centred support in the community – most importantly delivering great outcomes for people.

The team work closely with colleagues ensuring that people who use our service are connected to the right kind of support, this includes working with: 

• Rethink Community Services
• Somerset Foundation Trust
• Somerset Integrated Care Board
• NHS England
• Primary Care Networks
• Open Mental Health
• Mental Health support services across Somerset
• Service Users
• Peer Volunteers and Experts by Experience
• Corporate Resources – Finance; HR&OD and ICT
• Quality and Service Transformation

The successful candidate will have:

• Lived experience of mental illness and/or a good understanding of mental illness and the impact and needs of individuals.
• A way of working that demonstrates and reflects Rethink Mental Illness’ values of CARES (Connect, Accountable, Respect, Evolve and Success)
• Have a flexible and proactive approach to working with others as well as be creative, adaptable, and bring a positive enthusiasm to work
• The ability to access, plan and monitor support to achieve & evidence recovery and service outcomes
• Experience of partnership working, negotiation and liaison work with other agencies
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, tailored to a variety of audiences
• Ability to travel freely and flexibly around Mendip & South Somerset in order to work effectively with people accessing our service.
• Excellent time management skills with ability to plan and prioritise my workload
• Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to communicate confidently with colleagues of all levels
• An NVQ 3/QCF Diploma in Health & Social Care related subject
• Excellent IT Skills – proficient in the use of Microsoft Office

Rethink Mental illness supports all members of staff to access professional development opportunities, training, national peer support networks, buddy systems and are supportive of flexible working requests which may help people to thrive in their roles.

** This is a Fixed Term Contract for 1 year with the possibility of extension depending on future contract arrangements of the service.**

We do reserve the right to close this advertisement early if we receive a high volume of suitable applications. 

Please see further details on our website

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Don’t meet all requirements?

If the role sounds exciting to you but your experience, skills or qualifications don’t exactly match every single requirement, we still encourage you to apply, you may be just the right person for our position!

Caring for our people.  

We offer a wide range of support. Some of our benefits include:  

• PULSE: our recognition, rewards, wellbeing, and benefits platform. Providing access to thousands of discounts and benefits including cashback; reloadable cards; savings etc. As well as being able to thank colleagues and nominate them for awards. 
• Wagestream: gives you instant access to up to 50% of your pay. Also provides a library of expert tools, tips and articles plus, helps you start building a rainy-day pot straight from your salary.
• Wellbeing support: our Wellbeing hub gives physical, emotional, and mental health support. We also have a BUPA Employee Assistance Programme with access to appointments. 
• Taking time for you: we work flexibly –you get to choose where you work, managing your own diary. We have generous annual leave, starting at 25 rising to 30 days, plus bank holidays, as well as your birthday off. We also offer the opportunity to buy and sell annual leave. 
• Planning for the future: We have a contributory pension scheme. 
• Structured Corporate Induction: Onboarding you into the Charity supporting your wellbeing along the way. 
• £300 when you introduce a Friend: receive up to £300 when you introduce a friend or family member. 

Who are we? 

We’re Rethink Mental Illness, a leading charity provider of mental health services in England. We support thousands of people through our groups, services, policy, campaigns and advice and information. Our work supports us in delivering on our mission: “A better life for everyone severely affected by mental illness.”  

It is an exciting time to join our growing charity. We are on a transformation journey, one that supports the delivery of the organisation strategy – delivering Communities that Care. Supporting employees, managers and leaders through this change is a key priority for the People function. Just like its key that we attract diverse people to come and work for us.  

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion

Diversity is important to us and we appreciate difference through difference, inclusiveness and belonging. It gives us a deeper understanding of the world, our society and the diverse communities we’re working with. By including everyone, we are able to draw on the unique experiences and expertise of our people to help shape and enrich our workplace and improve our services. One way we are doing is through our valued staff networks which play a critical and highly valued role in keeping us focused on creating a diverse, inclusive and engaged employer.  We recognise and support staff networks for our Black, Asian and minority ethnic and our LGBTQIA+ colleagues. We are also proud to have been awarded Disability Confident Employer status and are a signatory to the Business in the Community Race at Work Charter.

Becoming a truly anti-racist organisation

We have an ambition of become a truly anti-racist employer, campaigning organisation and service provider - and in our efforts to influence policy and wider societal factors impacting on mental health set out in our anti-racist statement . We have designed a multi-year anti-racist programme of work contained in our Race Equality Action Plan which demonstrate our intention to hold ourselves accountable and be judged on our progress on becoming a truly anti-racist organisation.

We therefore actively encourage and welcome applications from everyone, including applicants with lived experience, those who are Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer (or questioning), Intersex and (asexual) (LGBTQIA+), people with a disability, and people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds.

If you have any questions about the position, please contact - recruitment@rethink.org