Job Description – Community Support Officer

Please note: This job description is to be read in conjunction with the current Service Specifications provided by the Health
Funding Authority.

Purpose
 To provide information, support, education and care management advice and service to Clients, Members
and Carers of people with dementia in an integrated and holistic manner.
 To participate in Society events and occasions as and when appropriate to assist with the raising of
awareness, funds and in recognition of the Community Support Officer role as part of the organisation as a
whole.
 To deliver Cognitive Stimulation Therapy services to our clients.
 To provide administration and coordinated services to the Living Memories club office bearers.
 To provide education services to various organisations so they can offer their services as dementia friendly.

Educational Qualifications and Experience Preferred

 A formal qualification or significant interest/experience in Social Work, Health, Disability or Aged Support.
 Knowledge of dementia and the aging process is desirable as is the ability to relate well to people.
 Full drivers licence.
 Working knowledge of Microsoft Word, Excel and Outlook essential.
 Maturity and empathy to deal with people in stressful situations.
 Be committed to the principles of integrated and holistic service delivery.
 Relevant experience in the community/agency work and community/agency networking.

Personal Skills
 Show a commitment to the philosophy of the society.
 Be a self starter who is able to work independently while maintaining full communications with the Board
and its designates.
 Organised and able to collect and collate data for research purposes.
 Monitor service delivery.
 Demonstrate an active willingness to undertake personal self education.

Relationships
Responsible to:
Directly responsible to Chairperson and Board of Alzheimer’s Society Southland Inc or designates for: clinical
matters, administration and management.

Functional Relationships with:

 People with dementia, their carers, families and friends
 Supporting agencies including health professionals involved in the care of our clients
 Volunteers
 Southland Community
 The Administrator & Management of Alzheimer's Society Southland Inc

Primary Objectives
 The provision of the service within the set Service Specifications (Health & Disability & Age Related).
 To work within the objectives set out in our Constitution and within the special code of ethics set out by the
Alzheimer’s Society NZ National Board.
  To work cooperatively with the Chairperson, Board, other staff, related agencies and other health
professionals to ensure that the best possible services are available for carers.
 To provide support and ongoing education for carers and families of people with dementia as individuals
through home visiting, support and education groups.
 To develop and maintain good public relations in the wider community and promote the activities and
services of the Society.
 To uphold the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi.
 To establish an extensive list of suitable contacts to ensure that the Society referral system is proactively
managed.

Key Tasks and Responsibilities

 To make contact with all families approaching the Society, identify their needs and refer to the appropriate
agencies and offer support and information as required.
 Advocate on behalf of clients as appropriate.
 Establish and maintain a community networking system to promote an understanding of the services
provided and co-operate with other groups to provide complimentary rather than competing services.
 To provide information, support, education and counselling to carers and families of carers as individuals.
 The development, co-ordination, promotion and facilitation/counselling of support groups.
 Undertake appropriate training and be responsible for keeping up with latest developments in dementia
treatment and disease management.
 Maintain client files as per Service Specifications and as directed by the Board/Chair.
 To operate a system of keeping statistics to ensure accurate retrieval.
 Monthly written report to Board and other reports as requested by the Board/Chair.
 Health Funding reporting requirements to be adhered to.
 Participate in annual performance appraisal/professional development plan process.
 To review services offered in response to changing client needs and forward proposals for considerations
for change to the Board.
 Satisfaction survey conducted annually of clients and referrers.
 To engage initiative and be proactive in identifying, reporting and resolving issues that may cause harm to
yourself in the work environment.
 To participate in public speaking engagements involving public awareness and in-service training.
 To ensure all referral agencies and contacts, both professional and community based are offered every
support possible to encourage referrals.
 To attend to all other matters as directed and requested by the Chair or designates.
 Reports directly to the Chair.

Performance Measures
 60% client contact time goal met. Per records in Government Funding Bodies (GHF) reports.
 Regular evaluation of service delivery through feedback from carers, families and other stakeholders.
 Regular evaluation of community knowledge of service through agreed audit tools.
 Majority satisfaction rate with carer’s satisfaction survey and referrer’s satisfaction survey (when developed).
 Efficient retrieval of records and research data. Monitored by a documentation audit that is conducted at
least annually and is based on the Government Funding Bodies Specifications.
 Participation in staff / Board meetings as required by policies and procedures as determined by the Board.
 Present monthly report at Board meetings.
 Participation in Professional Development Plan process and meeting agreed performance objectives.
Professional Development
 Be responsible for recognising own needs in relation to ongoing professional development and to source
opportunities to attend ongoing in service training, relevant seminars and to forward proposal for
sponsorship to the Chairperson, in relation to training budget policy as approved by the Board.
 Attend personal supervision monthly and maintain current supervision contract with supervisor.
 Participate in professional development plan as approved by the Board and actively involved in undertaking
personal self education.

Authority and Confidentiality

 All information related to the Society and its clients shall be treated as confidential and shall not be shared
with other parties.
 The Community Support Officer is required to maintain a non-judgmental stance on all issues.

The Community Support Officer may request a review of this document at any time otherwise it will be reviewed two
yearly and as required.
I have read and understood the above job description and accept that this is an accurate reflection of my role

CSO’s Name___________________________________________________

Signature______________________________________________________

Date__________________________________________________________