This is a brand new post, created through two-year funding from Macmillan Cancer Support. The Cancer CARE Worker will provide independent advocacy, decision-making support, and peer network development for people living with cancer and their unpaid carers across Fife.

CARE stands for Culture, Agency, Respect, and Equity. These four words describe what every person supported through this project should experience, and they are particularly important for people who face additional barriers to being heard: those from culturally diverse communities, those living in poverty, and those managing cognitive impairment alongside a cancer diagnosis.

This is not a Carer Support Worker role. It sits at a higher level of autonomy and complexity, involving one-to-one clinical liaison, co-facilitation with NHS teams, professional training delivery, and leadership of a lived experience co-design process. It requires someone who can hold professional relationships with oncology teams in the morning and sit with a carer in crisis in the afternoon.

ABOUT THE PROJECT

People living with cancer and their unpaid carers do not consistently experience meaningful involvement in treatment decisions. People report leaving appointments confused about what was decided. Clinicians report wanting to do better but lacking time and tools.

The barriers are not the same for everyone. For people from culturally diverse backgrounds, language, unfamiliarity with the health system, and cultural expectations about deference to professionals can make it difficult to speak up or challenge decisions. For those facing financial hardship or living in areas of deprivation, the practical pressures of poverty, transport, and caring responsibilities crowd out the space needed to engage meaningfully. For people living with dementia alongside cancer, consultations move too fast, information is delivered in ways that do not account for cognitive difficulty, and both the person and their carer can be left unclear about what has been decided and why. These groups face the highest barriers and are the primary focus of this project.

Under the Carers (Scotland) Act 2016, carers have a legal right to be involved in decisions about the person they care for, to have their own needs assessed, and to receive support that allows them to participate fully. In practice, many carers do not experience these rights, and this project exists to close that gap.

This project will not replicate or compete with clinical services. It sits alongside them, filling the gap between what health services can offer and what people living with cancer and those who care for them actually need to feel confident and respected in their care.

JOB PURPOSE

To provide independent, person-centred advocacy and decision-making support for people living with cancer and their unpaid carers, with a particular focus on those who face cultural, socio-economic, or cognitive barriers to meaningful involvement in their care.
To build networks and effective working relationships with NHS oncology teams and wider clinical staff.
To support people living with cancer and unpaid carers to be informed, confident, and respected partners in decisions about care.
To facilitate peer networks and joint care-planning sessions, and to contribute to co-designed training for clinical teams.

CORE TASKS

One-to-One Advocacy and Decision Support

The Cancer CARE Worker is responsible for:

Providing personalised advocacy for people living with cancer and their carers, adapting support to meet the specific needs of those facing cultural barriers, financial hardship, cognitive impairment, or other pressures that limit meaningful engagement.
Supporting individuals before and after key treatment appointments, helping them understand options, prepare questions, and process outcomes in ways that are accessible and relevant to their circumstances.
Working in a culturally sensitive and inclusive way, recognising that language, cultural expectations, and socio-economic pressures shape how people experience cancer care and whether they feel able to speak up.
Delivering support flexibly, in person, by phone, or online, shaped around each person’s needs, with particular attention to practical barriers such as transport, caring responsibilities, and financial constraints.
Managing a caseload of approximately 80 people living with cancer and 80 unpaid carers across the project period (2 years), prioritising according to need and complexity.

Peer Networks

The Cancer CARE Worker has shared responsibility to:

Develop and facilitate monthly peer network sessions for carers and patients across Fife, ensuring sessions are accessible and welcoming to people from diverse backgrounds and those facing socio-economic disadvantage.
Create safe, supportive spaces where people can share experiences, build confidence, and learn from others navigating similar decisions, including through provision of practical support such as travel assistance where needed.
Actively engage and support participants from underrepresented communities, including those from culturally diverse backgrounds and those living in areas of deprivation who may not typically access Fife Carers Centre’s services.
Support lived experience volunteers to co-facilitate sessions where appropriate.

Joint Care Planning

The Cancer CARE Worker will:

Facilitate structured joint care-planning meetings involving patients, carers, and oncology or wider clinical staff.
Act as an independent facilitator to ensure patients and carers can contribute fully, removing practical, linguistic, cultural, and cognitive barriers to participation where possible.
Support the use of interpreters, accessible formats, or adapted communication approaches where individual need requires.
Aim to facilitate a minimum of 40 joint care-planning sessions across the two-year project period.

Clinical Staff Training and Engagement

The Cancer CARE Worker will:

Contribute to the co-design and delivery of training clinical staff on how to recognise the specific barriers faced by people from diverse cultural backgrounds, those living in poverty, and those with cognitive impairment, and to adapt their practice accordingly.
Support the development of practical guidance materials and case-based learning resources that reflect the real experience of the people this project serves.
Build and maintain working relationships with clinical teams across Fife to support embedding of inclusive approaches in routine practice.

Co-Design and Evaluation

The Cancer CARE Worker will:

Actively involve people with lived experience of cancer and caring, including those from culturally diverse communities and those with experience of poverty or cognitive impairment, in the design and review of project resources, tools, and activities.
Participate in monthly co-design meetings with people with lived experience, in person and online.
Lead on day-to-day project monitoring and evaluation, including maintaining accurate records, administering pre- and post-intervention surveys, and supporting interviews and focus groups with participants and clinical staff.
Contribute to project reporting as required.

Other Responsibilities

The Cancer CARE Worker will also be expected to undertake administrative duties relating to the post, participate in regular supervision, team meetings, and relevant training and development, and carry out other duties as arise from time to time as part of a team.

All employees are expected to read and abide by Fife Carers Centre's policies and procedures. This post is directly employed by Fife Carers Centre and supervised by the Learning and Development Manager.

This is a new post and as such will be subject to regular review as the project develops. This appointment is subject to a six-month probationary period.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

Essential

• Experience working with unpaid carers, people with health conditions, or in a community-facing support or advocacy role.

• SVQ Level 3 in a relevant field (e.g. Health and Social Care) or equivalent demonstrable experience at this level.

• Ability to build trust with people who are overwhelmed, frightened, or facing complex circumstances, including those who may be reluctant to engage with services.

• Confident communicator who can explain complex information clearly and advocate effectively in professional settings.

• Demonstrable commitment to cultural competence and working in an inclusive, equitable way with people from diverse backgrounds.

• Understanding of how poverty and socio-economic disadvantage shape people’s ability to engage with health and care services.

• Experience facilitating group sessions or workshops.

• Able to work independently across multiple locations, manage a varied caseload, and maintain accurate records.

• Sound understanding of safeguarding principles and confidentiality requirements when working with vulnerable adults.

• Able to assess and manage personal risk when working alone in community and home settings.

• Emotionally resilient and able to sustain high-quality support in a demanding environment.

• Full UK driving licence and regular access to a reliable vehicle.

Desirable

• Knowledge of cancer care pathways, palliative care, or experience supporting someone through serious illness.

• Experience working with people from culturally and linguistically diverse communities, including navigating language barriers or working with interpreters.

• Understanding of dementia and the specific challenges this creates in healthcare decision-making.

• Experience of outreach or engagement work with people who face barriers to accessing mainstream services, including those in areas of deprivation.

• Awareness of the Carers (Scotland) Act 2016.

• Experience of co-designing services or resources with people with lived experience.

• Experience delivering or contributing to professional training.

• Experience contributing to monitoring and evaluation activity, such as surveys, interviews, or funder reporting.

• Lived experience of caring for someone with cancer, dementia, or a long-term condition, or of navigating health or care services as someone from a minority or marginalised community.

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