What are the responsibilities and job description for the Bilingual Peer Advocate position at ASHwell?
DESCRIPTION
Title: Bilingual Peer Advocate
Compensation Hourly: $21-$25
Employment Status: Temporary with potential for full-time hire
Office: ASHwell Headquarters, 3208 Red River St., Suite 300, Austin, TX 78705
About the Organization:
ASHwell is a sexual health and wellness center established in Austin, TX in the late 1980s. We are passionately committed to diversity, equity, and belonging. We strive to provide a safe discrimination-free space for all and predominantly serve LGBTQIA and BIPOC communities. Our approach to sexual health and wellness is rooted in being proudly sex and kink positive, pro-sex worker, pro-harm reduction and anti-stigma. We are a growing organization looking for values-aligned, pro-sexual health and wellness people to join our team!
Position Overview:
The ASHwell Bilingual Peer Advocate works closely with clients living with HIV who are newly diagnosed, at risk of falling out-of-care, or who have fallen out-of-care. The Peer Advocate provides psychosocial support as well as support with medical navigation services. Medical navigation is a component of healthcare delivery that helps people overcome barriers to timely and appropriate care by helping individuals identify resources, obtain needed services, and learn their way around the local system of care. The Peer Advocate works closely with both English-speaking and monolingual Spanish-speaking clients to minimize barriers to keeping appointments, maximize clients’ retention in care, and support success with medication regimens.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities:
-
Supports individual client linkage to HIV medical care, medical and non-medical case management at ASHwell and other community partner agencies’ services.
-
Conducts individual and community assessments, including assessments of client needs and development of care plans with clients’ input.
-
Performs outreach to re-engage and relink clients lost to care.
-
Culturally appropriate health education and information to improve treatment adherence.
-
Care coordination, linkage to case management, and system navigation that support retention in care through client referrals for needed services.
-
Cultural mediation to educate clients about care and treatment in order to increase linkage, retention, and treatment adherence.
-
Supports clients in-person at ASHwell and other Austin-area Ryan White agencies.
-
Coordinates medical transportation for clients where appropriate.
-
Evaluation and research, including documentation of activities in electronic health records.
-
Serves as a linkage coordinator to help client entering or re-entering care complete intake, go to their first few medical appointments, and get connected to a case manager or other most needed services after medical intake.
-
Provide coaching and mentoring, including advice, social and emotional support, and encouragement, helping identify and address problems or barriers to care.
-
Assist with demonstrating continued eligibility for Ryan White services, including ensuring they have all necessary documents and obtain six-month and annual recertification.
-
Generates client case reviews and performance documentation to track each client’s progress.
-
When working with clients with limited English proficiency (LEP) help with translating forms and interpreting with schedulers and other non-clinical staff and medical interpretation where appropriate.
-
Report on their activities through entering information into electronic health records (EHR) system after proper training, participating in interdisciplinary team meetings to review client progress, and reporting to program supervisor.
-
Collaborate closely with other members of the treatment team, including clinicians and other care providers such as case managers at ASHwell and other Austin-area Ryan White agencies.
Preferred Qualifications:
-
High school diploma or GED. Bachelor’s degree preferred in public health, social work, psychology.
-
Fluent in English and Spanish with proficient reading and writing skills, and knowledge of medical terminology in both languages.
-
Lived experience with clients, such as, HIV serostatus, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, substance use history, mental health conditions, culture and language.
-
A valid driver’s license and own transportation.
-
Ability to organize and manage multiple tasks simultaneously.
-
Strong communication and written skills, as well as a demonstrated ability to work effectively with diverse staff and diverse client populations.
-
Experience working or volunteering in HIV/STI prevention or other community health programs preferred.
-
Spanish language written proficiency and speaking fluency.
-
Experience working with electronic medical record platforms.
-
TX DSHS Community Health Worker Certification.
-
Knowledge of harm reduction models and Motivational Interviewing.
-
At minimum one year’s professional experience as a peer support specialist.
Salary : $21 - $25
