Job Title: Project Officer (Health & Social Care Integration: Engagement)

Job Description

Job title: Project Officer (Health & Social Care Integration: Engagement)

Reports to: Projects Manager (Routes to Inclusion)

Salary: £27,828 plus 8% pension contribution

Hours: 35 per week (full-time)

Location: Edinburgh

Contract: Temporary, 1 year (but with possibility of extension if funding can be secured).

Background

Inclusion Scotland Inclusion Scotland is a well-established and growing national network of disabled peoples’ organisations, run for disabled people, by disabled people. Our mission is ‘to ensure that policy affecting the everyday lives of disabled people in Scotland is informed by and reflects their views, so that the full inclusion of disabled people into all aspects of Scottish society can be achieved’. We work to promote understanding of the physical, social, economic, cultural and attitudinal barriers that limit disabled people’s everyday lives and we advocate action for their removal. We do this by: - Providing information about policy developments affecting disabled people and about disabled people’s rights.

1 - Capacity Building disabled people, their organisations and those they need to engage with, to promote disabled people’s participation in policy- development and service-delivery strategy at local and national level, and in wider society. - Policy work to make sure policy-makers understand what is required to achieve the full inclusion of disabled people and independent living, to enable and promote the development of effective policy towards those goals.

Health and social care integration The introduction of health and social care integration (HSCI) promises important opportunities for people who use services and third sector organisations to have an input to the development of health and social care integration strategy and delivery. Given that the purpose of HSCI is to improve the health and well-being of people who use services, it stands to reason that it is they who are best placed to know what works and what does not, and to gauge progress towards that goal.

Disabled people are likely to be heavy users of social care and possibly (though not necessarily) healthcare. As such, their input should be particularly helpful. Moreover, the way in which these services are designed and delivered can make a dramatic difference to disabled people’s ability to exercise choice and control over their lives, as equal citizens. However, there can be particular challenges for disabled people and their representative organisations, and for those wishing to engage with them. Seldom heard groups experience multiple barriers and can be socially isolated. Disabled People’s Organisations (DPOs) may struggle to be heard alongside other, more powerful, third sector organisations. Engagement methods therefore need to be accessible, and those running engagement exercises need to know what this entails.

Third Sector Interfaces (TSIs) will play a crucial role in engagement, capacity building and influencing for the totality of the third sector. This will be particularly challenging given the scale of integration and potential scope of the third sector that should be engaged.

All this means that a proactive approach needs to be taken to capacity- building all parties and to forging the connections necessary for participation. It will be essential to ensure that engagement is truly inclusive and the valuable contribution of lived experience to the development of effective services and the furtherance of HSCI outcomes is captured.

2 Routes to Inclusion – Health & Social Care Integration: Engaging Disabled People and their organisations

The overall purpose of the project is to intervene proactively to make engagement between DPOs/ disabled people and integration structures happen, and help ensure that the potential for mutually positive experiences and outcomes is realised. It will bring TSIs and DPOs closer together and scope and develop models of practice that ensure disabled people’s voices and capacity can contribute effectively. Alongside, and throughout, there will be a particular focus on promoting Self-directed Support and the principles of promoting service user choice and control that it encapsulates.

The starting point is to identify a maximum of 3 locations as the focus for more intensive, longer-term exploration and intervention, ideally lasting throughout the life-span of the project. A base-line will need to be established, by mapping the organisational landscape, stage of integration and attitudes to engagement. Capacity-building needs and scope to intervene to forge connections will then be identified and carried out. Learning and associated materials will be disseminated, along with evidence of the added value contributed by people who use services.

The project is to be led by Inclusion Scotland with the input of a number of key partners: Voluntary Action Scotland, Scottish Health Council, Self- Directed Support Scotland and Dr Charlotte Pearson, Glasgow University. It will be run as an ‘action research’ project, where participants chart their own evolving experiences and learning, scope success factors.

There are two key contemporaneous initiatives that this project could both benefit from and contribute towards, while keeping a clear, distinct focus all of its own. The first is another ‘Routes to Inclusion’ project, entitled ‘Rights and Resilience’. This too will focus on 3 localities, aiming to explore the impact of welfare reform and how it can be mitigated, and to obtain evidence to inform policy-making with regards to the future devolution of disability benefits. It is expected that each project may reveal evidence or develop contacts relevant to the other, and so close liaison between the two Project Officers will be required. The second concerns the implementation of recommendations contained in the ‘Stronger Voices’ report. This proposes an ambitious range of activities to develop service user engagement infrastructure at local and national level over a 3 year period.

Job purpose and overview

3 The post-holder will take the lead in delivering the ‘Routes to Inclusion – Health & Social Care Integration: Engaging Disabled People and their organisations’ project. The post-holder will:

 Contribute to the development of detailed project and research plans, monitoring, evaluation and reporting.  Use community development approaches to engage with a range of organisations, identifying assets and gaps.  Carry out mapping and capacity-building activities

 Produce and disseminate materials and reports

 Liaise with partners and colleagues to ensure effective co-ordination, add value and avoid duplication.

 Seize opportunities to promote Self-directed Support, its principles and ethos.

We are grateful to the Scottish Government for funding this project and associated post.

Key tasks

1) Delivery

a. Work with local TSI’s and others to map out baselines. b. Explore attitudes to HSCI engagement, all parties. c. Set up structures/ mechanisms for capturing the ongoing learning and experiences of all parties. d. Use community development approaches to engage with a range of organisations, identifying assets and gaps. e. Carry out capacity-building and forge connections between key players to promote engagement. f. Develop capacity-building materials, through co-production wherever possible.

g. Develop an improvement framework for third sector disability inclusion for TSIs and statutory partners, promoting understanding of TSIs of the capacity and engagement needs of DPOs. h. Seize opportunities to promote Self-directed Support, its principles and ethos. i. Identify any emerging implications for national policy and guidance.

4 2) Communications and dissemination j. Gather information, disseminate learning and good practice, e.g. through organising events and quarterly bulletins. k. Provide concise monthly updates to funders on progress and emerging issues. l. Draft an end-of-project report including review of learning, evidence of what works and the added value of ‘seldom heard’ service user voices, difference made, recommendations e.g. regarding localities guidance and practice, contributions towards HSCI engagement standards and outcomes. m. Promote good communications with partner organisations, draw on the expertise of partners as necessary and service meetings of partner organisations. n. Liaise closely with colleagues (internal and external) working on ‘Rights and Resilience’ and ‘Stronger voices’ projects, to co-ordinate action, contribute and exchange information/ contacts in order to add value and avoid duplication.

3) Planning and administration o. In partnership with the line manager, assist in the development and manage a detailed project and research plan. p. Ensure all elements of the Project’s work can be evaluated and contribute to its evaluation. q. Establish and maintain accurate records and monitoring systems in relation to the Project’s activities r. Ensure that all meetings, events and outreach activities are accessible to disabled people, including ensuring that all reasonable adjustments requests are met.

4) Working for Inclusion Scotland s. Adhere to the policies and procedures of Inclusion Scotland. t. Attend and contribute to Inclusion Scotland staff meetings and awaydays, and meetings of their Board of Directors, as required. u. Prepare papers and reports to the Chief Executive Officer and/or Board as required. v. Help to promote the values and ethos of Inclusion Scotland. 5 w. Undertake other duties as may reasonably be required by the Chief Executive Officer, the line manager, or Inclusion Scotland’s Board of Directors, in line with the status of the post.

Person specification

Experience

Essential:

1. Successfully planning and delivering a project, to meet deadlines and targets, within budget. 2. Community development and/or capacity building. 3. Undertaking and delivering research studies. 4. Event planning and delivery. 5. Personal and/or professional experience of disability and the barriers that disabled people face 6. Production of written materials and report writing 7. Working effectively with a wide range of stakeholders to produce results

Desirable:

8. Working in the 3rd/voluntary sector 9. Working at local level

Skills and abilities

Essential

10. Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, including relationship building and network development. 11. Able to organise and prioritise tasks to meet deadlines 12. Able to identify implications for policy and practice 13. Facilitation skills 14. Good administrative skills

Knowledge and understanding

Essential

15. Understanding of the roles of statutory stakeholders and processes at local level

6 16. Knowledge and understanding of Health and Social Care Integration policy, structures and roles 17. Understanding of Self-directed Support 18. Understanding of co-production 19. Awareness of disability access issues.

Personal qualities

Essential:

20. Commitment to the philosophy of independent living, the social model of disability and human rights 21. Able to work proactively on own initiative and collaboratively as part of a team

Other requirements

Essential:

24. Willingness to travel and spend time in different locations 25. Willingness to work at weekends and evenings on occasion.