IDENTIFICATION Department Northwest Territories Health and Social Services Authority Position Title Healthy Families and Community Wellness Worker Position Number(s) Community Division/Region(s) 87-13146 Norman Wells Sahtu/Sahtu PURPOSE OF THE POSITION Healthy Families and Community Wellness Workers provide culturally relevant education, health promotion, and prevention activities for the community, families, and individuals in the area of basic health and well-being issues with a focus in the area of addictions, mental health, family violence and cultural awareness. The Healthy Families and Community Wellness Worker position also works to enhance the home environment for the physical, mental, and emotional well-being of children (ages 0-6 years) who may be at risk of being developmentally delayed. The position assists in strengthening the parent-child relationship by improving parenting skills, reducing family stress and meeting the needs of parents. The position works closely with other government and non-government resources in the provision and coordination of services for children and families. The Healthy Families and Community Wellness Worker is a member of the Primary Community Care (PCC) Team in the community and is the first point of contact for clients in providing identification, screening, basic counselling, referrals, aftercare, and follow-up. The Healthy Families and Community Wellness Worker works in partnership with the Mental Health and Addictions Counsellor, Community Health Representatives, Community Social Service Worker, Community Health Nurse and others (e.g. Probation Officer, School Counsellor, Band Office, Land Corporation, Pre-school, etc.) to promote wellness for residents of the NWT. August 1, 2016 GNWT Job Description Page 1 of 8
SCOPE Located in the communities of Colville Lake (157), Deline (pop. 559), Tulita (pop. 567), and Fort Good Hope (pop. 559), the Healthy Families and Community Wellness Worker works under the direction of the Manager, Mental Health & Addictions as part of the Community Counseling Program. The incumbent works collaboratively with other social and medical professionals as well as organizations and professionals outside of the health and social services system in the community and region, to meet the overall service goals and objectives. The incumbent will also work in accordance with the philosophy, objectives, standards, and procedures of the Northwest Territories Health and Social Services Authority. This position requires the incumbent to work independently and with minimal supervision. The Healthy Families and Community Wellness Worker provides education and prevention initiatives for communities to achieve a better understanding of the issues surrounding cultural identity, mental health, addictions, and family violence. This involves working with various community groups and stakeholders including elders, adults, adolescents, children, families, Aboriginal leaders, and others. The Healthy Families and Community Wellness Worker will also assist in strengthening the parent-child relationship through regular, long-term, contact and support of families (primarily through visits to the clients' home). The incumbent will assist parents/caregivers in improving their skills to optimize the home environment, improve the family support system and improve the family's ability to problem-solve. The incumbent is responsible for assisting the family in establishing goals and a plan to accomplish the goals, as well as the screening of typical growth and development of children served by the program. Intervention is family-centered, strength- based and directed at establishing a trusting relationship with families. RESPONSIBILITIES 1. To provide education, promote wellness and lead prevention activities in the areas of cultural awareness, mental health, addictions and family violence. Designs, delivers, and evaluates wellness, addictions, mental health, and family violence programs relevant to community needs. Provide individuals and groups of all ages with information on their unique cultural identity as well as on addictions, mental health, and family violence through group Utilizes media involvement (i.e. local radio) to facilitate mass public education on wellness, addictions, mental health, and family violence topics according to NTHSSA procedures and/or policies. Provides support to self-help groups. Keeps the public and community agencies informed of programs, services and pathways for service in non-crisis and crisis situations, for substance abuse users, mental health and family violence clients. Provides organizational support and actively participate in community interagency meetings. August 1, 2016 GNWT Job Description Page 2 of 8
Advocates for public understanding and awareness of addictions, mental health and family violence. Supports individuals, families and communities in understanding and valuing their unique cultural identity. 2. To provide clients and families with culturally relevant personal development counseling in the areas of mental health, addictions, and family violence issues. Conducts basic screening with clients for applicable prevention, education or referral for mental health or addictions assessment using protocols outlined in the CCP. Use a team approach to access resource persons and services especially during times of crisis and trauma. Conducts screening and assessments for suicide risk, risk of violence, victimization and other abuses of persons, physically, emotionally or sexually, and identify resources available for the client in crisis, ensure access to resources, and provide follow-up when appropriate. Provides personal development counseling to client groups. Provides aftercare and follow-up support for clients through small group and individual education and network of self-help resources. Leads/participates in care coordination meetings for assistance with individual education and follow-up support following treatment or hospitalization. Provides advocacy services for clients in working with other agencies. Completes program documentation (e.g. activity reports for education sessions) related to community, small groups, individual clients and crisis work. Completes program reports to meet program accountabilities, long range planning and quality management. 3. Initiates and maintains regular and long-term (up to 6 years) home-based support services with families, in order to promote positive parent-child relationships, healthy child development, and enhance family functioning. Home-based services are provided at least weekly to newborns with the frequency of services adjusting as per client needs and program protocol. Establishes a voluntary, trusting relationship with program families by providing regular contact through home visits Applies working knowledge of parent-child interaction and child development to help clients increase their parenting skills and parental knowledge of age-appropriate behaviours and activities for their children, and reduce family stress Assists parents in increasing problem solving and coping skills by offering skills and/or facilitating referrals to resources Establishes an individual family support plan with the family, identifying goals, objectives and activities to help meet the family's needs Meets regularly with supervisor for clinical consultation Provides support to the families regarding day-to-day childcare/health, social services agencies; and Assists with the follow up and/or administration of developmental screening of the child's growth and skill acquisition August 1, 2016 GNWT Job Description Page 3 of 8
4. Assists with early childhood intervention program delivery, in collaboration with the Primary Community Care Team (Social Workers, Mental Health and Addictions Counselors, CPNP, Aboriginal Head Start, and others). Participates in multidisciplinary team meetings, program planning and other activities Plans, organizes and implements program specific activities/sessions for groups Participates as a member of the primary community care team in the assessment and reassessment of clients to determine the level of support services needed Observes parent's attitude, beliefs and behaviours, as well as the parent/child relationship, sharing any concerns around child maltreatment to the supervisor and to child protection, ensuring the proper documentation is complete; and Maintains active and positive working relationships with other agencies involved with the health and well-being of children in order to gain an understanding of the health community issues and resources 5. Determines eligibility for the Healthy Families Program Conducts interviews with families Conducts Healthy Families Screening during prenatal period or shortly after birth Conducts Parent Visitor Assessments on all positive Healthy Families Screens on families of infants Works closely with the Primary Community Care Team Reviews with the Manager, Mental Health and Addictions the Screening Interviews and Parent Visitor Assessments that they have completed 6. Assesses, documents and reports findings Documents appropriate information on the case record and data entry forms Gathers and records statistical information relevant to the client and the programs Observes, evaluates and documents client progress Participates in supervisory sessions with Manager, Mental Health and Addictions Attends training and participates in continuing education opportunities as required Provides client reports as required 7. Workplace Health and Safety Employees of the NTHSSA are committed to creating and maintaining a safe and respectful workplace for employees and patients/clients. Building a safe and respectful workplace is everyone's responsibility All Employees have a professional and personal responsibility to perform their duties to health and safety regulations, standards, practices and procedures All stakeholders (management, staff, UNW and WSCC) need to ensure our Workplace Health and Safety Committee works effectively, with a shared purpose of continuous All Employees play an active role in Workplace Health and Safety through their daily activities identifying prevention risk and accidents, and applying timely corrective measures A healthy workplace, where employees can prove quality service under safe conditions, is the right thing to do August 1, 2016 GNWT Job Description Page 4 of 8
8. Duty Travel May be required to travel to remote communities on small engine planes and/or winter roads WORKING CONDITIONS (Working Conditions identify the unusual and unavoidable, externally imposed conditions under which the work must be performed and which create hardship for the incumbent.) Physical Demands Home visits and community based presentations (30% of the time) will require the incumbent to carry 5-15 lbs. of presentation supplies and aids to the location of the presentations in all climactic conditions (private homes, schools, nursing stations). The incumbent may be expected to walk to the sites on a daily basis in all climactic conditions including assaults in a client's home while performing home visits. Environmental Conditions The incumbent will spend 70% of their day in client homes or in public locations where they may be exposed to health hazards such as cigarette smoke, pets, tuberculosis and unsanitary conditions that may make the incumbent sick. During home visits and community presentations the incumbent may be exposed to potentially abusive (verbal and physical) clients and family members. Office space may be small and shared with other workers. In addition, the incumbent will be exposed to all weather conditions (ranging from -40 to +30) when moving between the office and locations for public presentations and home visits. The constant change in temperature (office- outdoors - home/presentations - outdoors/ office) may be stressful. As a result of living in isolated, northern community, the incumbent may be required to travel on small planes and ice or winter roads when travelling to or from the community. Sensory Demands The incumbent will be required to use combined senses of touch, sight, smell and hearing during assessment and provision of care in an uncontrolled setting (i.e. client's home). Working within the client home may be extremely distracting and make normal assessment and decision making more difficult as these settings may be distracting for both the incumbent and the client (noise level, family interruptions, visual commotion, etc.). The incumbent will also observe for unusual signs and symptoms of illness and assessing the physical environment on a daily basis. August 1, 2016 GNWT Job Description Page 5 of 8
The incumbent may spend 20% of the day on administrative duties within an office setting, where the incumbent may be required to focus on a computer terminal. Mental Demands The incumbent may become involved in situations with community members who are experiencing stress or confusion with respect to the delivery of social services or the status of their own health. The involvement/interaction may occur at any time (day or night). This may cause significant disruption to the incumbent's family and social life. In addition, within the work environment there will be significant lack of control over the work place, with frequent interruptions (work is often dictated by external factors) that may lead to mental fatigue or stress as well as conducting home visits alone, going into unpredictable situations. From time to time the Healthy Families and Community Wellness Worker may be required to assist the Mental Health/Addictions Counselor in the provision of services to clients, some of whom may be abusive, individuals under the influence of drugs or alcohol and Royal Canadian Mounted Police escorts. These incidents may occur while the incumbent is on duty as well as when off-duty (within a small community it is difficult to separate the individual from the position). As a result they may be concerned for the safety and well-being of the incumbent and their family members that may cause extreme levels of stress on the incumbent both during and after working hours. KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES Knowledge of physical, psychological and social effects of addictions, mental health/ Knowledge of physical, psychological and social effects of addictions, mental health/ mental health disorders and family violence. Knowledge of and ability to apply current practices in the management of risk factors for addictions, mental health disorders and family violence. Knowledge of treatment options for people of all ages with addictions; knowledge of referral routes and care coordination. Basic knowledge of NWT Mental Health Act, the Child and Family Services Act and knowledge of other NWT legislations. Knowledge of and ability to network resources within and outside the Regional Health and Social Services Authority to ensure support for clients and their families. An understanding of the cultural and social issues in the community especially in regards to parenting Child development and parenting skills Pre- and post-natal care Universal precautions in order to protect the caregiverand client from the transmission of infections Family issues and stresses of parenting Child management strategies (non-violent) August 1, 2016 GNWT Job Description Page 6 of 8
Resources available in the community/region Addictions and domestic violence and its impact on children Awareness and understanding of the cultural history of the community especially with regards to parenting Ability to perform health promotion activities in the area of mental health, addictions, and family violence and its impact on physical, mental, spiritual and emotional health. The ability to facilitate individual and group learning using a client centred approach and popular education model as well as support facilitated discussion Awareness of the importance and limitations of confidentiality. Excellent oral and written communication skills. Ability to operate a desk-top computer with basic software package (word processing, data base). Ability to be self-directed, meets deadlines, prioritize workloads and manage several tasks at once (independent work habits). Ability to operate in a team environment in a highly cooperative environment. Interviewing and assessment skills Ability to work in cross cultural settings in a non-judgmental manner Ability to work as a member of the Primary Community Care Team Ability to teach and communicate effectively with clients and colleagues Ability to identify situations of risk and make appropriate referrals Ability to work flexible hours (evenings and/or weekends) as required Typically, the above qualifications would be attained by: The knowledge, skills and abilities required for this position are typically attained by a Diploma in the Social Sciences or Early Childhood Education together with one year of relevant, supervised experience with children, youth, and families. Previous work experience in a remote northern location would be an asset. Ability to speak aboriginal language of the community is an asset. ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS Sahtu Region Requirements Within the Sahtu Region the HFCWW must be able to acquire within a reasonable time frame and remain current with the following training and certifications: Great Kids Incorporated Standard First Aid Certification in basic CPR, Level C and AED WHMIS and TOG Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) Valid Class 5 Drivers License August 1, 2016 GNWT Job Description Page 7 of 8
Certificates, Licenses: Valid Class 5 Drivers License Non-violent Crisis intervention, or similar (or willing to obtain) First Aid and CPR (including infant) certification (or willing to obtain) Personal Injury Prevention Training including WHMIS, TOG, Lifting and Carrying Techniques (or willing to obtain) Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (or willing to obtain) Mental Health First Aid (or willing to obtain) Position Security (check one) No criminal records check required Position of Trust criminal records check required Highly sensitive position requires verification of identity and a criminal records check French language (check one) French required French preferred French not required August 1, 2016 GNWT Job Description Page 8 of 8