Workplace HIV/AIDSPeer Education

Professor David Dickinson

Wits Business School

Introduction

Please introduce yourself to a peer educator who you don’t already know: Ask their name Find out where they work Ask them how long they have been a

peer educator (how many years)

We will use some of this information later!

What we’ll talk about

1. Peer Education is for everyone!

2. Informal and formal activity – and the link between them

3. The value of peer educators sharing their experiences

Why Peer Education?

Because HIV/AIDS is a crisis for our country and our people

Because any effective response involves not only information but understanding & behavioural change, and: ‘Similarity between message source and

recipient is vital to the ultimate impact of the message.’

Peer education has an important role – the epidemic affects everybody so we need peer educators from every walk of life

Who Are Peer Educators? (I)

In workplaces an over-representation of African women in particular

Who Are Peer Educators? (II)

Symbolic lack of peer educators in senior positions

Thinking about ‘Peer Status’

To be effective as peers – who can communicate to everybody – we need to move beyond race, gender and skill:

‘Saints’ are important…

…but we need more ‘sinners’!

Activity: Formal Presentations

Most peer educators give formal talks: 90% Most give talks on a regular basis: 37% weekly, 30%

monthly

Giving formal talks to co-workers raised peer educators profile and is linked to a higher level of informal work

Peer Educator Activities:The Normalisers

Normalise the epidemic

Encourage open talk about HIV/AIDS

Bring HIV/AIDS into a correct perspective at work and in the community

Peer Educator Activities:The Advisers

Advise people around HIV/AIDS and (often) other issues of concern

With AIDS it’s ‘talk, then tears, then more talk’

Flexibility in dealing with people of different beliefs

Peer Educator Activities:The Stigma Busters

Challenge stigma in the workplace

Confront gossipers

Befriend and support the stigmitised

Often below management’s ‘radar’

Peer Educator Activities:The Sex Talkers

Open taboo areas of sex as a topic for discussion to enable safer sex practices

Complex area: for example, realistic promotion of abstinence requires talking about masturbation

Overcome own inhibitions within peer educator training/meetings and take this to the workplace

Often meets resistance (linked to gender and age differences between peer educators and employees)

Peer Educator Activities:The Family Builders

An understanding of the importance of family and the need to address relationship difficulties between men and women

Attempt to address underlying frustrations in relationships, recognising the economic necessity of many relationships

Attempt to proactive educate youth to make good decisions on choosing sexual/marriage partners

How Peer Educators Make Themselves ‘Visible’ to their Peers?

Formal talks Induction and training (e.g. H&S) Wearing their Peer Educator badge (with pride!) Putting up posters and other information ‘Edutainment’ (e.g. choirs, football games) Sharing media experiences (TV, radio,

newspapers) Joining conversations (in the canteen, in the

taxi, at church, in the street etc) Initiating conversations (with care! – peer

educators need to be ‘available’ not ‘annoying’!)

The Value of Meeting with other Peer Educators

83 percent of peer educators meet with other peer educators: 41% find these meetings ‘extremely useful’ and 40 % ‘very useful.’

‘Limited mutual support by peer educators across companies, non between companies – an area that should be considered.’ (February 2006).

Peer educators who attend meetings with other peer educators conduct more:

formal sessions, have more informal discussions, and are more likely to have co-workers disclose that they are

HIV+ (43% vs. 23%)

Mutual Support: Levels of Activity

Activity of Peer Educators and Meeting with Other Peer Educators

2230 35

121

716

34 34

9

010203040

I am anextremely

active peereducator

I am a veryactive peereducator

I am anactive peereducator

I am not avery active

peereducator

I am not anactive peereducator

Pe

rce

nta

ge

Meet with other peer educators

Don't meet with other peer educators

Conclusion Peer Education is for Everyone!

We need more men and more managers as peer educators

We need peer educators from all walks of life and with different experiences and approaches

No ‘one size fits all’ and we work in different ways But, we must always think about how effective

are actions are and how we can improve them

We have a wealth of experience and ideas We need opportunities to share!