Nobody grades you. There are six things that help. You can ask for a certificate if you want one.
There is no exam
You are not a student on this programme. You are a partner, and you are an adult with experience of your own condition.
So there is no test to pass, and no mark that decides whether you belong in the room.
What follows is a description of good practice. Read it to know what the team is trying to do. Do not read it as a set of hurdles.
If you want a certificate
The full community research link worker course offers an assessed certificate. It needs a knowledge check, two observed tasks and a portfolio.
For a lived experience partner, that is usually the wrong shape. If you want evidence of what you have done, three simpler things are available:
- A letter from the programme lead describing your contribution, in plain words.
- A record of the sessions you took part in, and what you influenced.
- A short recorded conversation with you about your contribution, kept as a record.
Ask for one of these if it is useful to you. It is not required, and asking does not imply you were being assessed.
The six things
1. You can explain the study in plain words
You can tell a person with aphasia what the study is for and what taking part means, in a way they understand.
Show it by: a short recorded explanation, or a conversation with your supervisor.
2. You can support a consent conversation
You give time, offer different ways to answer, check understanding, and record the decision in the approved way.
Show it by: a practice conversation, watched by your supervisor, or a recording.
3. You know what to do when someone discloses harm
You say what will happen, write it down, and pass it on the same day. You do not investigate.
Show it by: talking through a real or practice example.
4. Your recruitment reaches past your own network
You can name who is easy to reach, who is missing, and one way to reach each missing group.
Show it by: a one-page plan, or a recorded conversation about it.
5. You help a conversation run well
People get time. Quiet people get heard. The questions get covered. The session closes well.
Show it by: co-running a session that is observed, or a recording of part of one.
6. You bring a problem to the team properly
You name it, say what you saw, offer two options, and ask for a decision.
Show it by: a written note, a recorded note, or a supervision discussion.
What counts as evidence
- A recorded conversation. Speaking is as good as writing.
- A short written note, in whatever form you write best.
- An observed session with your supervisor.
- Notes made with an assistant or a scribe, if you want one.
You never have to produce a long essay. If you do ask for a record of your contribution, it looks at your reasoning, not your spelling.
Who is accountable for your experience
The programme lead, not an assessor. If a meeting was unusable, if papers arrived late, if a task was asked of you without training, that is the team's responsibility, and it can be raised.
Ask at the start who to raise it with, and in what form. A spoken word in the meeting is enough if that is easier than writing.
One honest limit
This page was written for a generic course and then adapted. It has not been tested with a group of people with aphasia, and it has not been tested with you.
If any part of it is patronising, unclear, or simply wrong about your experience, that is a fault in the page. Say so, and it will be changed.