Community Embedded Practitioner

Are you looking to develop your role and be part of a new and unique way of working?

The Community Embedded Practitioner role offers the opportunity to be part of a pioneering project and draw on your strengths to shape the way mental health services work with and support our communities. As an experienced practitioner, you will use your knowledge, skills and experience to shape this role in response to the needs of local communities and the organisations in which you will be embedded.

This pilot has been co-developed with South London communities through the South London Listens programme, in response to a community ask around access to mental health services for refugee, migrant and diaspora and UK Minority Ethnic (UKME) communities. Community organisations in Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark have been identified through South London Listens and Citizens UK to host a Community Embedded Practitioner.

"A mental health practitioner working alongside us will be a huge asset to our ongoing work with communities that have too often faced barriers in accessing mental health support.."

- Community Leaders

Community organisations are looking for an empathic and compassionate practitioner to welcome into their organisation in genuine collaboration, ready to work innovatively to provide mental health support, responding to needs that arise and supporting staff and volunteers to increase their skills and knowledge.

Main duties of the job

As part of South London Listens, our ethos is building relationships within local communities and working together to prevent mental ill-health and bring about sustainable change.

The post holder will be working with external stakeholders to:

Bridge gaps between the NHS and communities by learning about the needs of the community and feeding back within the NHSAssess and triage complex needsMake referrals and follow up with patients to help them navigate the systemMake registering for and accessing services easier

The post holder will be responsible to lead the Community Embedded Programme, with key outcomes which include:

Reduced stigma and increase willingness to talk about mental health in targeted community organisationsIncreased knowledge of mental health services and the system among participantsIncreased trust in the NHS and willingness to be referred in community organisationsImproved understanding in Mental Health Trusts of the needs of migrant, refugee, diaspora and UKME groupsIncreased early-stage uptake of mental health services for those who need them among community organisationsReduction in unmet need in migrant, refugee and diaspora communities

We are committed to ensuring our staff get the most out of their benefits package and understand the importance of a healthy work life balance. There is an extensive range of excellent benefits for you and your family. We want you to feel like you are part of a close knit team at SLaM. It's important to us that you valued and appreciated and that are why we have a comprehensive benefits package on offer