Client Navigator

Community Healthcaring KW provides a broad range of services aimed at improving the health of individuals and the wider community. Our services include medical and dental care, health promotion, illness prevention and outreach programming. Our expertise and resources are focused on working with those who experience health inequities and barriers to accessing health services. Collaborating as an interdisciplinary team, we provide services and supports that address the social determinants of health including factors and barriers such as poverty, inadequate housing, food insecurity, substance use, language and culture, as well as stigma and social exclusion.

Community Healthcaring KW works with the most complex client population served by primary health care professionals within Waterloo Region. Our highly skilled and diverse team works from a strength-based approach with individual clients as well as the broader community. We collaborate with many partner agencies and organizations within Waterloo Region. Our team consists of Family Physicians, Nurse Practitioners, Registered Nurses, Social Workers, Dietitians, Chiropodists, Pharmacists, Psychiatrists, Health Promoters, Community Health Workers, Administrative Staff and Volunteers.

We invite you to consider this opportunity to join our team and contribute to this important work.

The Health Centre is currently recruiting for the following position:

Job Title: Client Navigator

Pay: $47,765.04 - $57,566.63 per annum

Full- Time, Permanent

Job Summary

As a member of the Primary Care team, the Client Navigator supports the coordination of care for Community Healthcaring KW clients with multiple complex social and health needs. This coordination includes leading the development of a client-centred care plan of existing supports as well as providing assistance to clients who experience difficulty accessing needed resources and/or navigating systems. In doing so, this role facilitates internal and external referrals, engages in problem-solving and advocacy, assists clients in developing strength based coordinated care plans and collaborates with service partners.

Responsibilities

• Assist clients to reach their identified health goals, acting as a resource to navigate social service and healthcare systems and ensuring that they have the supports they need to optimize their health and wellbeing.

• Facilitate internal and external referrals.
• Facilitate non-clinical Social Prescribing referrals.

• Work with clients and assist with completion of disability forms (ODSP, OCF-3, CPP, STD/LTD forms) and others as required.
• Liaise with Legal Services to arrange formal appeals of negative decisions when required.
• Support with rental or housing program applications as needed.

• Assist clients with system navigation, advocacy and life-skill development.
• Work from a determinants-of-health and client-centred perspective in order to assist in building clients' capacity to work toward goals.

• Work within a social determinants of health and anti-oppression framework to improve health outcomes for individual clients and/or for the development of community health and well-being, and to reduce health inequities.

• Advocate for clients to receive the appropriate social service and health care.
• Consult with, and provide information to, Health Centre staff regarding clients and assist with the development of care plans for clients with complex needs.
• Participate in case conferences for clients’ plans of care with external agencies and services where appropriate.
• Establish and maintain knowledge of community resources and build strong relationships with external agencies and partners.
• Work individually and collaboratively in the development and implementation of quality improvement initiatives and activities
• Work in a manner that preserves confidentiality
• Maintain electronic client records according to Health Centre expectations and professional standards.
• Work during both regular and extended hours (evenings/weekends) and in locations within the Region of Waterloo with irregular hours evenings and weekends. A minimum of one evening per week will be required.
• Participate in team and staff meetings and other meetings and committee work as appropriate to support both service delivery and organizational goals.
• Collect, analyze and report on data and relevant information and participate in research as determined by Health Centre.
• Contribute to the centre’s practices of hiring, orienting and training of staff.
• Work individually and collaboratively in the development and implementation of quality improvement initiatives and activities.
• Work in a manner that preserves privacy and con