Peer‐led sexual health promotion with young gay and bisexual men ‐ results of The HAPEER Project

Abstract

Presents the results of an investigation into effective methods of peer‐led sexual health promotion work with young gay and bisexual men. The study recruited a group of young gay and bisexual men from Southampton who underwent training to participate in a peer‐led sexual health intervention in which they conducted one‐to‐one interviews with a selection of their peers. Reports briefly on the key learning to arise from the process of recruiting and training peer educators, and in greater depth concerning the quasi‐experimental evaluation of the intervention the peer educators participated in to promote sexual health. The study found that rapport and familiarity between project workers and potential recruits aided the recruitment process, and that informal, confidence‐building activities were key factors in the effectiveness of the peer educators’ training. The peer educators were most effective in terms of information provision, but weaker on the exploration of attitudes and beliefs, or the encouragement of safer sexual behaviour. The advantages associated with the intervention included its ability to target individuals in a range of community settings, to stimulate in‐depth discussion about sexual health, to identify individual needs and to facilitate outcome evaluation over time.

Citation

Shepherd, J., Weare, K. and Turner, G. (1997), "Peer‐led sexual health promotion with young gay and bisexual men ‐ results of The HAPEER Project", Health Education, Vol. 97 No. 6, pp. 204-212. https://doi.org/10.1108/09654289710186707