The course aims to enable participants to set up and run their own peer-led conversation groups. The focus is on providing training and support to set up such conversation groups, led by trained volunteers with aphasia and supported by volunteers without aphasia. This course is based on the learning and experience of setting up and running peer-led conversation groups at Connect and Aphasia Re-Connect. The course provides a step-by-step guide to enable you to recruit and train group facilitators, and then set up, support, maintain and evaluate the conversation groups.
The ‘How to run peer-led conversation groups – a guide for group coordinators’ (McVicker S and Swinburn K 2009) offers you everything you need to set up the groups, evaluate them and keep your group and volunteers supported and motivated.
The guide consists of:
Next steps
After completion of this course you may be interested in The Conversation Partner Scheme. This course will equip you with the tools and training to set up a volunteer supported conversation service to meet the needs of people, often hardest to reach, who have long-term communication disability and are isolated within their own homes.
The Course and Tool-kit are presented in English, however, the scheme could be adapted to work in different countries.
The course is interactive, with power point, video, workshops, and practical discussion. There is a tool-kit that includes:
Roberta Elman (2006) Introduction to group treatment in neurogenic communication disorders: the expert clinician’s approach N Simmons-Mackie, RJ Elman (2015) negotiation of identity in group therapy for aphasia: the Aphasia Cafe International journal of language & ...., 2015 - Taylor & Francis
