Cancer CARE Worker

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…