Age UK Leeds Job Description

Job Title: Sensory Impairment Support Worker

Accountable to: Ageing Well Service Manager

Location: Age UK Leeds – Bradbury Building

Hours: 25 per week

Job Purpose

To liaise with care homes to identify and develop initiatives to improve the quality of life and health and wellbeing of residents with sensory loss.

Main Duties and Responsibilities

To involve service users, their families and staff in the care homes in the process of development, design, and evaluation of new and existing services.

To build relationships with registered managers and their staff to promote greater awareness of what it means to live with sight or hearing loss.

With the care home staff, awareness raising and training needs relating to sight and hearing loss.

Organise and provide training, involving specialist input from Leeds Hearing and Sight Loss Service (LHSS) as appropriate

In close collaboration with LHSS staff identify gaps in services, ensure that care home staff are aware of aids and adaptions, and technology that could help residents maintain their interests or develop new ones.

Facilitate greater links between the care home with the wider community, particularly with LHSS/ BID and other local organisations with specialist knowledge on sensory loss.

Recruit volunteers to support the delivery of reminiscence sessions, 121 befriending, health & wellbeing activities, engagement in activities organised by the care home.

Ensure volunteers receive awareness training regarding sensory loss. If appropriate recruit volunteers with specialist skills e.g. BSL or facilitate training

Align other related community-based services provided by Age UK Leeds and other providers with activities delivered within the care home setting (e.g. Digital Inclusion, falls prevention)

Provide quarterly performance reports and case studies, as well as meeting with LHSS and other partners as required

Project delivery Work in partnership with LHSS service recipients, care home managers and staff,

partners within the, colleagues with Age UK Leeds and other stakeholders to develop an approach and service that meets the identified needs of the older people with whom we work

To maintain accurate and up to date client records on Charity Log database maintaining confidentiality

To manage own workload and appointments ensuring optimal use of resources e.g. mileage

Project Development On behalf of Age UK Leeds support the development and continuous improvement of

Leeds Hearing and Sight Loss Service through participating in the annual service review, giving feedback and collecting it from clients and considering unmet need, social policy and best practice. This may include identifying partnership opportunities with other organisations.

To collect feedback from clients on policy issues in order to improve services for older people.

Public Relations To represent Age UK Leeds at meetings, workshops and conferences as appropriate.

General requirements Maintain awareness of other Age UK Leeds services and activities. Attend staff meetings and join working parties and project groups as appropriate. Identify ways to improve service delivery within the constraint of resources available. Engage in supervision and undertake appraisals. Implement the Age UK Leeds Equality and Diversity Policy and ensure that equality and

diversity principles are incorporated into the planning, delivery and monitoring of services. Work within all AUKL core policies such as Data Protection and Lone Working

Work within AUKL Safeguarding policy and procedures at all times.

No job description can be entirely comprehensive and the job holder will be expected to carry out such other duties as may be required from time to time and which are broadly consistent with the job description and the status of the post within the organisation.