Health Advocate and Advisor (Chinese Students)

Building and Campus: The role will be based primarily in the CMHS department and King’s Health Centre at the Strand campus, but may involve some working from other King’s sites at Waterloo, Guy’s or Denmark Hill.

Contact details: Jo Levy, [email protected]

Hiring manager/s: Rhiannon Thomas

Job description

About Us

The King’s community is dedicated to the service of society. King’s Strategic Vision 2029 sets out our vision for the future, shaped around five priority areas: educate to inspire and improve; research to inform and innovate; serve to shape and transform; a civic university at the heart of London; and an international community that services the world. Our ambitious Education Strategy sets out the actions that we must take to transform how we teach, how and where our students learn and how we support them during their time with us.

The Counselling & Mental Health Support (CMHS) Service at King’s is a multi-disciplinary team comprising psychodynamic counsellors, group analysts, counselling psychologists, mental health advisors, clinical assessors and a consultant psychiatrist.

The CMHS team work closely with King’s Health Centre GP Surgery, aiming to help us think holistically, considering both the physical and mental health needs of students.  

We are part of the Students & Education Directorate, a collection of wide-ranging professional services in place to support King’s students and their education. As a directorate we manage the student lifecycle from application to graduation and beyond, to ensure a coherent and seamless student experience and effective administrative processes, working closely with King’s faculties to do so.

About the Role

The role is for a Chinese speaking advisor who can help students whose first language is Mandarin or Cantonese navigate physical and mental health provision. These students may benefit from support to help their awareness of the different services available or to understand health advice given, so that they can make informed choices about their care. King’s has a diverse population, and our Chinese students are an important part of our community. At the same time, differences between health service provision in the UK and in China can sometimes create difficulties in understanding how best to access the right level of care at the right time.

This role is offered for 1 year in the first instance and is part of a joint project between King’s College London and Central and North West London (CNWL) NHS Trust’s ‘University Connect Scheme’. 

You will be working closely with colleagues in CMHS and King’s Health Centre to help advise students who would benefit from advocacy or support in Chinese. This may involve discussion of health concerns, helping to understand prescription or medication instructions, and supporting awareness of and access to services or resources to support wellbeing available from both the NHS and at King’s. Management support and supervision will be provided by CMHS, King’s Health Centre and CNWL.

Contract type

This is a full-time post, and we welcome applications from candidates seeking a flexible work pattern within our necessary service operating hours (Monday – Friday, 9am – 5pm). A job share for this role may be considered.