I am based in a GP practice and work with colleagues and other community agencies to support the health and wellbeing of patients and the local population. The practice has an action plan, informed by the local joint strategic needs assessment (JSNA) and in turn this helps to guide the priorities for my role.
I help people to find their way through ‘the system’ and reach the services they need to make improvements to their own personal situation; this may relate to poor health or social problems such as debt or isolation.
Many of my clients face challenges that go hand in hand with living in deprivation, such as poor health and wellbeing levels, debt, poor housing or relationship problems. I work with individuals to design holistic interventions that help them to develop the skills and knowledge to improve their own wellbeing, and to become resilient in the face of difficulties. If I don’t have the skills or knowledge to personally deal with an issue, or there is a specialist agency that could better help, then I will refer clients on to other services. If necessary, I can continue to support them whilst they build up their confidence levels and achieve their goals.
In addition to one-to-one work my role also involves delivery or design of various training courses. For example, we offer a long-term health conditions programme for people with on-going health issues who may also have problems associated with their social health such as debt or isolation. There is often an overlap between health and social issues and we try to address this in the courses we offer.
As a CWO we support individuals to build up their confidence to a point where they want to become a volunteer or a wellbeing champion. This involves us working together to develop a personal development plan (PDP) where individuals can pass on the message of wellbeing to others in the wider community.