The role of the Healthy Living Centre worker is to build effective working relationships with all the Croydon Healthy Living Centres and to assist in the sharing of good practice and information on topics that are appropriate for the work of the centres.
We contribute to the Healthy Living Centres by securing open employment for people with mental health issues. Employment can decrease mental ill-health and stress and increase self-esteem. We engage our candidates in activities to improve their employability.
The New Opportunities Fund has increased our capacity to target health inequalities within mental health and employment by working in partnerships with other Healthy Living Centres. This wider networking opportunity has improved our knowledge of agencies working in Croydon with similar client groups and has increased our ability to work with our candidates in a more holistic way. The Healthy Living Centre Network has increased our referral sources as we can refer candidates to relevant agencies within the network. This 2-way referral system means that we can support candidates who have been referred to us from other Healthy Living Centres and we are able to inform candidates about other agencies suitable to deal with their needs.
Many agencies within the Healthy Living Centre Network have offered our candidates the opportunity of a job sample. This is a short work experience placement accompanied by a member of STATUS staff. These job samples have enabled us to assess the candidate's readiness for work. We can see how the candidates interacts with other members of the team, or how they accept instructions from management. It is also a useful tool for getting the candidates' foot over the threshold of a workplace after, possible, not having worked for some time.
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