When someone you love is living with Down Syndrome, they need more than a doctor — they need a partner who learns the condition alongside them, notices the early warning signs, and helps carry the daily plan. Becoming a Certified Prepared Care Partner means you have trained to the same level as the patient — observed and signed off — so the care team can trust you as a partner, not a bystander.
Opt in and your progress saves locally as you go.
This pathway mirrors the Prepared Prepared Patient course for Down Syndrome, step for step. Some steps you do together with the patient — the same page, the same course, the same card. Others are yours as the care partner. The goal is one team that shares the same knowledge and the same plan.
The same one-page Fact Sheet your patient reads — what Down Syndrome is, what triggers trouble, and the daily protectors. You and your patient starting from the same page is the foundation of the partnership.
A short check: what do you already know about Down Syndrome, where are you confident, and where do you want to focus? Your answers personalize the rest of the pathway.
The full Down Syndrome course — the body, the medications, the action plan, the warning thresholds. You take the same course the patient takes, at the same depth. Work through it side by side and check in with each other at each module.
Your Down Syndrome care partner kit — the warning-sign cards, the trackers, the contact ladder (who to call, in what order, for what), the ER go-bag, and the step-in / step-back guide. Keep it where you can reach it fast.
Knowledge becomes competency through observed practice. Demonstrate the hands-on skills for Down Syndrome — and walk through your patient's Skills Lab with them so you share the same technique and the same thresholds.
A short exam at the patient's standard, tuned to the care partner scope — the the Down Syndrome warning signs and the rules for when to act, the medication side effects to catch, and when to step in versus when to step back.
A household activation card. Patient and care partner fill in squares together — each one a small advocacy action. Earn the full card and you both become Down Syndrome Ambassadors in your community.
Bring the Provider Hub to your patient's clinicians and introduce yourself as a trained, credentialed care partner. When the team knows who you are, your voice carries weight in the room — in clinic, at discharge, and in the ER.
Once the steps above are complete, your credential is issued — a verifiable digital badge with your name, the condition (Down Syndrome), the role (Care Partner), the date, and the issuer. Share it with the patient's care team so they know you are a recognized partner.
Your credential preview. Once every step above is complete, this becomes a verifiable digital badge — issued by The Force for Health® Network and reportable to your health system through FHIR.
Every step of this pathway draws on Academy-provided, PHIT-informed resources matched to the moment, the condition, and where you live.
Communication, medication management, transfers, self-care — the Skills Lab.
The course, the Fact Sheet, the Tools Kit, the 360 anatomy view — tuned to the diagnosis.
PHIT matches your ZIP code to local clinics, respite, transport, and support.