Understanding peer education: insights from a process evaluation

In the UK, peer education has become an increasingly popular way of carrying out health promotion work with young people but evaluations of its effectiveness remain largely unpublished. In particular, illuminative evaluations using qualitative methods are rarely reported both in the UK and other countries. This paper presents insights from the process evaluation of a peer education project in Fife, Scotland which was funded to explore new ways of working with young people in the areas of sexual health, HIV/AIDS and drugs. The interactive approach of the evaluation and its responsiveness to the development of the project are outlined. Factors influencing the peer education process, such as recruitment, setting, organizational context and personal development of participants, are described. Aspects of the formal and informal work carried out by the peer educators are discussed. It is hoped that the paper may provide a starting point for developing more reflective understandings about the processes involved when peers educate peers.