Vacancy: Outreach Day Service Support/Care Assistant, Part-time, 15 hours per week, initial 12-month contract.
L’Arche Cork is recruiting for the position of Care Assistant to provide an outreach day service
for a 65-year-old woman in Cobh, due to her recently-reduced capacity to attend L’Arche’s day service, and to help facilitate her intended return to a much-reduced day service.
Expectations of the role of Outreach Day Service Support:
- To build a trusting, Person-Centred, relationship with the person you support advocating for her needs, with due regard to her will and preference
- To forge a close rapport with the person’s guardian, also residing in the house, via regular communication, to promote a needs-led and responsive service
- To promote quality of life for the person you support, enabling access to pastimes, hobbies and supports, via assistive technology (e.g. zoom) and driving
- To attend medical appointments with the person you support as required
- To communicate frequently with L’Arche, regarding progress, challenges, identified supports etc., to improve support both to the person and to you in your role
Requirements for the role:
- A minimum QQI Level 5 qualification in social care or equivalent qualification
- Minimum 2-years’ experience in intellectual disabilities (related field experience considered)
- Managing your time effectively, working autonomously and demonstrating initiative.
- Ability to manage behaviours that may challenge
- A satisfactory level of IT proficiency for use of online/assistive technology
- Commitment to best practice guidelines, to regulations, and to L’Arche policy, especially regarding safeguarding, upholding confidentiality, and accountability
- Full clean driving licence
- The post is subject to Garda vetting
Special Circumstances:
Some degree of flexible working, in order to meet the needs of the person you support
Salary scale: HSE Health Care Assistant 27,571 -41,952 Euros per annum, pro rata
Please refer to Job Description for further details of the role. Queries about the post should be directed to the Day Service Co-Ordinator by phone or email as follows, Tel: 021-431-8880 or Email: [email protected]. L’Arche Cork is an equal opportunities employer.
Job Description – Outreach Day Service Support (part-time – 15 hours)
Overview: L’Arche Cork is recruiting for the position of Care Assistant to provide an outreach day service to support a 65-year-old woman in her home whilst recuperating from a fall. The distribution of the 15 hours throughout the week is subject to discussion. The role will require supporting the person to sometimes physically attend L’Arche day service. This work will be conducted in adherence to the highest standard of care and support, in accordance with the ethos of the L’Arche Community and with the relevant national policies, standards, and legislation, specifically New Directions Interim Standards for Adult Disability Services, and the National Framework for Person Centred Planning in Services for Persons with a Disability.
Location: At a private family residence in the general area of Cobh, County Cork and at L’Arche Togher, as required
Reporting to: Day Service Co-Ordinator, L’Arche Cork/Day Service Team Lead
Main purpose: The role of any frontline worker in L’Arche is to support and enable adults with intellectual disability (ID) to improve their quality of life, and to achieve equality and independence through meeting their social support needs. This specific role involves providing an outreach day service for a 65-year-old woman in her own home due to her recently-reduced capacity to attend L’Arche’s day service. The focus of the support will be to maintain social connectedness for this woman through conversation, music, zoom calls with L’Arche staff, and board or card games. The use of online/assistive technology would greatly improve quality of life for this woman and as such some IT proficiency is essential. The role will involve some personal care whilst immobile (in addition to that provided by Home Help three times a day). As the person’s condition is expected to improve, she may return to the day service in a much-reduced capacity. If this improvement unfolds, the Outreach Day Service Support/Care Assistant would be expected to convey the person to and from L’Arche.
Position Summary: The Outreach Day Service Support/Care Assistant will play an advocacy role in helping to meet the social support needs of this person, with a focus on wellbeing and accessibility.
Duties and responsibilities:
Supporting the person in the following areas:
- Personal care- Toileting as required (Note that Home Help attends three times day to assist in this regard and to wash and dress the person)
- Medical needs-Monitor the well-being of the person, in close liaison with the guardian, accompanying the person to medical appointments, and administering medication, as required. Keep records of all medical events.
- Health promotion-Encourage good health habits including appropriate exercise (in consultation with any other professionals involved in the person’s care such as Occupational Therapist, Physiotherapist etc.), diet, and relaxation techniques.
- Spirituality – To support the person’s spiritual needs, such as, for example, engagement in religious service of their choosing, Mindfulness practice etc.
- Activities appropriate to the individual- Encouraging and supporting participation in activities or pastimes appropriate to the person’s level of ability, interest areas, and in accordance with their expressed preferences.
- Active citizenship - Encouraging and supporting the person to engage with community groups with similar interests or hobbies, including sometimes transport. This would include visits to L’Arche in Togher. Activities for this particular person might include taking car trips to places of interest, online or chair yoga/qi gong (run at L’Arche)
- Safeguarding - Ensuring the safety and wellbeing, both of yourself and the person you support, with respect for risk assessments, incident reports and adherence to best practice guidelines and organisational policy.
- Driving- Driving the person you support to appointments, to L’Arche community events, or on trips out locally.
Quality:
- Aligning with New Directions standards, to ensure that the service you provide to the person/people you support is safe, responsive to individual needs, and high quality
- To be cognisant of continuous professional development in terms of self-recognised or service-identified training needs
- To be cognisant of continuous service improvement, consistently documenting and reviewing services, in consultation with the person/people availing of those services, to ensure that they are meeting the needs of those individuals and promoting positive outcomes
- To obtain feedback from the person/people you support, and their circles of support, with regard to service development, improvement, and change
- To comply with and contribute to day service monitoring systems
Communication and Reporting:
- Forging a positive and trusting relationship with the person you support and the person’s guardian
- To report directly to the Day Service Co-Ordinator/Dy Service Team Lead
- Liaison with Day Support Staff as required (with regard to social events of interest to the person you support, planned community events, external facilitator activities etc.)
- To attend regular support and supervision sessions with the Day Service Co-Ordinator - to ensure adequate support is available to you and to the person you support, and to identify training needs
- To facilitate person centred planning (PCP) meetings and reviews for the person you support
- To attend other meetings relating to the person you support, when necessary, such as multi-disciplinary case conferences, or L’Arche Community reviews, as required
Administration:
- To complete accident or incident forms where necessary
- To report safeguarding concerns within the designated time limits
- To document contacts for the person you support (phone calls, emails, visits) for day service monitoring
- To monitor and document resource requirements for activities of interest to the person you support, make purchases as authorised, and retain receipts for any expenditure for the Day Service Co-Ordinator/Day Service Team Lead
PERSON SPECIFICATION
Essential criteria:
- A minimum QQI Level 5 qualification in social care or health care. An equivalent qualification will be considered, with a minimum of 2 years’ relevant experience of working with Adults with an Intellectual Disability or in a related service
- Ability to manage behaviours that may challenge, with experience of same
- Commitment to best practice, to regulations, and to L’Arche policy, especially regarding safeguarding, upholding confidentiality, and accountability
- Strong interpersonal skills, with the ability to engage a person with intellectual disability in a one-to-one capacity
- Ability to work on own initiative and in collaboration with a team, effectively managing your time to work autonomously
- Treating the person you support with dignity and respect, demonstrating patience, compassion and understanding in accordance with Person Centred Practice and aligning with New Directions
- Upholding confidentiality (in relation to the person’s privileged information)
- Adaptable to changing needs, and solution-focused, with the ability to contingency-plan
- Some degree of flexibility in response to the arising needs of the person you support
- Full clean driving licence
- The post is subject to ongoing Garda vetting
Desirable criteria:
- Experience of working in a care delivery capacity, preferably within a disability service
- Experience of communicating with persons with an intellectual disability (ID)
CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT
The post is offered on a part-time basis, 15 hours a week, for an initial fixed-term period of 12 months.
Working Hours: 15 hours per week (spread of hours negotiable)
Salary: HSE Care Assistant 27,571 -41,952 Euros per annum, pro rata D.O.E.
Annual Leave: Annual Leave will be 25 days per annum, pro-rata. Entitlement to Public Holidays will be in accordance with the Working Time Act 1997.
