Sheltered Housing Support Officer

Residents in Sheltered Housing have a range of physical and mental health needs which means that they need our support to maintain their independence. You will work to achieve this as per the Sheltered Housing Support Officer.

You will be working as a Cat 1 Sheltered Housing Support Officer providing advice and support to residents living in Cat 1 Sheltered Housing schemes across the Portsmouth area. You will be supporting residents living in this area and will work from an office close by.

Part of your role will mean meeting and greeting new residents, introducing them to the Cat 1 Sheltered Housing Service and making them aware of the service they can expect to receive. You will we be responsible for progressing and following up any support actions that will enable to resident to remain able to live independently.

You will act as an advocate for residents when working with other agencies and you will be acting as a link to social services and mental health services. You will be responsible for ensuring the completion and updating of needs, risk and support plans and ensuring that identified follow up actions are taken. This may include offering advice and signposting to the correct agencies to help with financial issues including payment of rent and bills, arranging for support with daily chores and shopping and helping residents arrange repairs, where relevant


Skills:

1. Experience of working directly (face to face) with people.
2. Understand the impact of physical and mental health issues experienced by older persons.
3. Be a good listener with a calm manner, with the ability to converse at ease with customers and provide advice in accurate spoken English.
4. Have the confidence to advocate for residents when needed and to work proactively with other professionals to achieve positive outcomes for residents.
5. Have an awareness of the importance of confidentiality when working with residents, in particular regards to GDPR requirements.
6. Be a strong team player and willing to support those in your team when they are facing challenges.
7. Understand the need for you to maintain appropriate professional boundaries with residents that you are supporting.
8. Understand the role of Social Services, Health Services and voluntary agencies in the provision of services to people and be able to work with them with the purpose of achieving the best outcome for service users.
9. Have good written skills as you will need to be able to write concise notes in residents files, respond to complaints and compile reports, for example in relation to Safeguarding matters.
10. The ability to prioritise workloads and self-manage your time effectively to meet the different needs of each resident.
11. Have basic IT skills, including the use of Microsoft Outlook and Word/Excel and be able to use in house databases as required.
12. Hold a full Uk driving license and have access to a vehicle for work.