Depaul Homeless Health Peer Advocacy Programme
Temporary Role to cover a period of long term leave (expected to end December 2026)
Working Hours – Full Time 35 Hours Per Week Monday-Friday
Salary- £25,394.88 P/A
Employee Benefits
- Enhanced Annual Leave – 35 days per year, increasing as your length of service increases
- Paid Sick Leave
- Company maternity & paternity pay
- Contributory Pension scheme
- Health Cash Back & Rewards Plan
- Christmas Savers club
- Bluelight discount card
Plus, many opportunities to learn and develop within the organisation
Why work for us?
Depaul is a cross border charity supporting some of the most marginalised individuals, couples and families experiencing homelessness. Our mission is to end homelessness and change the lives of those affected by it. Would you like to help us to meet our mission?
We are a values led organisation and aim, at all times, to live and breathe these values in our everyday work. Our values are based on four key principles:
- We celebrate the potential of people
- We put our words into action
- We aim to take a wider role in civil society
- We believe in rights and responsibilities If you choose to work for Depaul
About the programme
The aim of this service is to reduce unplanned use of health services, missed appointments and to re-engage and retain individuals in specialist care services. The Homeless Health Peer Advocacy programme works directly with homeless services; such as hostels to support vulnerable individuals to access health care.
About the role
We are looking for an individual who has lived experienced homelessness, addiction or personal experience of supporting a close relative with the same. The Peer Advocates accompany service users to and from health appointments and help people better understand their health needs and receive appropriate support. We work to improve service users' confidence in using health services and increase their ability to access healthcare independently.
Main duties
- Work alongside different referring agencies such as the homeless nurse, the Addictions Treatment unit and a host of voluntary and/or health related agencies.
- Participate in assessing new referrals referred into the service with the line manager.
- Accompany and advocate for people at health care appointments. This may be a variety of appointments, including gp’s, hospital, dental, mental health and many more.
- Provide clear effective handovers to service user’s key workers after appointment support.
- Using a check in/check out system with the line manager before and after appointments.
- Help health care providers to make contact with service users and notify them of their appointments.
- Focus on building the skills and confidence to enable service users to continue accessing health services independently.
- Facilitate health promotion groups.
- Engage in lived experience groups and support the development of Depauls Lived experience group.
- Engage in supporting different research as appropriate and support with assessing service user’s health outcomes through the questionnaires.
- Attend different homeless services highlighting the HHPA service to staff and service users.
- To attend team meetings and any training organised by line Manager which has been identified as beneficial for your progression in the role.
- To adhere to all Depaul policies and local procedures.
- To adhere fully to Organisational Risk Management Procedures, especially in relation to assessing risk and to lone working.
- To ensure that all service users information is recorded and stored as required (OTIS database/other records) and in line with Data Protection regulations and Depaul’s Confidentiality Policy.
- To respect the service users' right to confidentiality in our relationship with them as per the Depaul Confidentiality policy and code of conduct.
- To promote respect, diversity and equal opportunities.
- To attend supervision sessions with Line Manager to discuss your professional development.
The above list is not exhaustive; additional areas of responsibility may be added over time.
SKILLS OF A PEER ADVOCATE
The ideal advocate should:
- Have a lived experience of homelessness and/or addictions or supporting a close relative with the same.
- Be willing to travel to different locations, this may involve some occasional travel to different counties in Ireland.
- Good time management skills.
- Have good written and verbal communication skills.
- Be secure in recovery if relevant.
- Basic IT skills.
QUALITIES OF A PEER ADVOCATE:
- Be committed and reliable.
- Understand the importance of boundaries and be comfortable to ask for support when needed.
- Be keen to learn new skills.
The ideal advocate should:
- Be a good listener who is interested in others and what they have to offer.
- Be confident to speak about their own experiences.
- Treat others in a non-judgemental way and with respect.
- Be comfortable with working alone with service users and to be aware of any risks should they arise.
Experience
- 1 year paid relevant work experience or 2 years relevant volunteering experience
Knowledge
- Have an understanding of homelessness and the issues that can lead to homelessness
- Have an understanding of what supports can be offered in homeless services to promote positive futures
- Have a knowledge of the statutory and voluntary sector resources available to people experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness
- Understand the importance for Health and Safety standards in the delivery of services on a day to day basis.
- Knowledge of relevant statutory and voluntary agencies and the ability to network/liaise with all relevant bodies
- Knowledge and willingness to work within the guidelines of Depaul vision mission and values.
Circumstances
Availability: Monday- Friday and must be flexible between 8:30-6
Must have access to a car and a full driving license.
Access NI
This Post is subject to an Enhanced Access NI check. Having a criminal record will not necessarily debar you from working with Depaul. This will depend on the nature of the position, together with the circumstances and background of your offences or other information contained on a disclosure certificate.
NISCC
This post is subject to NISCC registration, if you do hold a valid registration this must be completed within your probationary period.
EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES:
Depaul strives to create a diverse and inclusive programme and is committed to ensuring equality of access to our opportunities and equality of treatment for our volunteers in all our policies and practices. We welcome applications from individuals aged 18 and over from a diverse range of backgrounds.
Our Privacy policy can viewed here:
https://ie.depaulcharity.org/about-us/careers/
