Nadia Pearson Email & Phone Number

Deaf Cultural Centre, Ladywood Road, Birmingham. B16 8Sz

People using mental health services have a long history of challenging the service and the treatment they receive, an opposition probably not seen in any other field of medicine. People using mental health services often find themselves in positions where their liberties are restricted and the people caring for them exercise a lot of power and control in their lives. This can leave people feeling disempowered and in need of support to navigate their experience of services - which an advocate independent of the mental health system is well positioned to provide. As an Independent Mental Health Advocate (IMHA) my role was to assist individuals with issues relating to their mental health, care and treatment. I also supported people to understand their rights under the Mental Health Act. My role was to enable individuals to have their views and wishes heard in decisions about their care or treatment which included :*Working with individual patients to provide information, support and representation.*To assist them in any decision making process affecting their care, treatment, legal status or other aspect of their daily lives e.g. Support to access a solicitor, appeal their section, complain if they feel they've been treated unfairly *To communicate with consultants and work with groups of patients on a ward or community basis to assist them in developing and expressing a collective point of view.*Leasing with primary care teams and staff about any worries or problems that individual patients may have*Respecting the multiple needs of the diverse client group and encouraging the widest possible access*To contribute to developing an efficient administration system that meets theneeds of the service in helping to evaluate the benefits of the service to the serviceusers and commissioners.*To promote Advocacy , IMHA and the service to other professionals, while supporting managers to provide training ensuring awareness and understanding of Advocacy and IMHA role.

Deaf Cultural Centre, Ladywood Road, Birmingham. B16 8Sz

As an information and guidance and housing support officer my role was to deliver a city-wide Information, Advice and Guidance service that empowered individuals with Hearing Impairment to overcome barriers and empower them to gain independence, build resilience, reduce social isolation and fully participate in community. I was tasked with maintaining high quality information, advice and guidance as well as promoting a range of independent living services and access to community activities. these activities were focused on health and wellbeing, employment preparation, digital skills, social personal and life skill development and housing/debt advice to individuals with hearing impairment and where relevant additional needs my responsibilities included:*Facilitating an effective pathway, managing referrals that come into the service *Responding to emergency or crisis situations as required being present in community or at work as well as undertaking home visits *Run an effective IAG service ; provide information and advice on a range of topics using British Sigh Language and/or other modes of communication to facilitate communication between service users and third parties when required and signpost to city wide IAG, third sector and other services as appropriate working closely with community providers *Support individuals to book or reschedule appointments wether medical, personal or booking of interpreters *To deliver community drop in services *To identify risk, undertake risk assessment/management and report safeguarding concerns without delay*To monitor and review all open cases at regular intervals to ensure that clients needs are always being met and undertake re-assessments should clients needs change *To have a sound working knowledge of social welfare advice, including housing, benefits, employment and debt*To input information and maintain accurate case records

Solihull Library, Homer Road, Solihull, B91 3Rg

As an information and guidance technical assistant my role was to provide an information and advice service for people who are Deaf, Deafened, or hard of hearing or have a visual impairment ensuring that the service users receive a service of the highest professional standard. I was involved in the management and delivery of the equipment follow up service, within the resources available, to people within Solihull MBC who are Deaf, Deafened, hard of hearing, or who were registered as having vision impairment. my role included the following : *The management of the IAG drop-in service at the Hubs (Chelmsley Wood and Solihull) as and when required or at other community-based localitiesTo provide *The management and maintenance of ensuring an up to date Visual Impairment register for the Solihull borough *The development of the service directory *To carry out contact assessments to identify support and equipment required by individuals that are registered as sight impaired or severely sight impaired*Provide practical and impartial advice and guidance on technical (assistive) equipment and home assessments. *Follow up referrals for broken equipment,* Monitoring the quality of service and updating contact assessments when required to ensure customer needs are being met at all times *Liaise with Opthalmologists regarding patient requirements and certificates of vision impairment *Triage service users who access the service in need of support.*Recording all work undertaken on specified data bases.*Identifying potential risks, undertaking risk assessments/risk management plans and reporting safeguarding concerns without delay

217 Waterloo Terrace, Newhampton Road East, Wolverhampton, West Midlands Wv1 4Ba

My role as a volunteer coordinators was to manage all elements of volunteering within the organisation while meeting the organisation's needs through the recruitment, placement and retention of volunteers. my role included:*managing volunteers and the relationships with the people they work with, including employees and service users as well as monitoring, evaluating and accrediting volunteers.*Writing volunteer policies and procedures, including risk assessments*Liaising with departments within the organisation to understand how they work, assess their needs and developing partnerships Generating appropriate volunteering opportunities and role descriptions based on the needs of the organisation*Raising staff awareness of the role and the function of volunteers*Promoting volunteering (internally and externally) through recruitment and publicity strategies and campaigns*Recruiting and interviewing volunteers and ensuring they are appropriately matched and trained for a position*Carrying out pre-volunteering checks, including references and Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks *Organising rotas completing induction training. I was also responsible for debriefing interviews for departing volunteers*Ensuring appropriate support and training for volunteers through regular informal contact and structured reviews*working with multiple agencies across different sectors in order to establish good working relationships to influence decisions about volunteering*Generating income, writing funding bids and raising funds to make projects sustainable*Monitoring and evaluating activities, writing reports for funders and trustees*maintaining databases and undertaking any other administrative duties.