ABSTRACT

Past efforts to address endemic rates of sexually transmissible infections amongst young Aboriginal people living in remote/very remote Australian communities have had limited success. Peer education has been used in youth sexual health promotion but has received limited evaluation and has not been tested in remote Aboriginal settings. The Young Deadly Free youth peer education programme trained Aboriginal young people in 15 remote/very remote communities as peer educators to deliver sexual health education to other young people. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the project team and regional coordinators to understand the barriers and enablers to implementing peer education in remote communities. Programme credibility, the offer of financial gratuities, and the recruitment of peer educators with prior sexual health knowledge and/or group facilitation experience were identified as programme enablers. Implementation challenges included programme rigidity, cultural sensitivities, and retention and expectations of peer educators. Seven implications for policy and practice are identified to increase the efficacy and long term-impacts of youth peer education. Peer education for youth sexual health promotion in remote communities can be effective if young peer educators are supported appropriately and the peer education programme is part of a comprehensive sexual health promotion strategy.

摘要

过去为解决生活在偏远/非常偏远的澳大利亚社区的年轻原住民的地方性传播感染率所做的努力收效甚微。同伴教育已用于青少年性健康促进，但评估有限，尚未在偏远的原住民环境中进行测试。Young Deadly Free 青年同伴教育计划培训了 15 个偏远/非常偏远社区的土著青年作为同伴教育者，向其他年轻人提供性健康教育。与项目团队和区域协调员进行了半结构化访谈，以了解在偏远社区实施同伴教育的障碍和促成因素。计划的可信度，财政小费的提供，招募具有先前性健康知识和/或团体促进经验的同伴教育者被确定为计划推动者。实施挑战包括项目僵化、文化敏感性以及同伴教育者的保留和期望。确定了对政策和实践的七项影响，以提高青年同伴教育的效率和长期影响。如果年轻的同伴教育者得到适当的支持，并且同伴教育计划是全面性健康促进战略的一部分，那么在偏远社区促进青年性健康的同伴教育可能会很有效。确定了对政策和实践的七项影响，以提高青年同伴教育的效率和长期影响。如果年轻的同伴教育者得到适当的支持，并且同伴教育计划是全面性健康促进战略的一部分，那么在偏远社区促进青年性健康的同伴教育可能会很有效。确定了对政策和实践的七项影响，以提高青年同伴教育的效率和长期影响。如果年轻的同伴教育者得到适当的支持，并且同伴教育计划是全面性健康促进战略的一部分，那么在偏远社区促进青年性健康的同伴教育可能会很有效。