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Student Voices: Perspectives on Peer‐to‐Peer Sexual Health Education
Author(s) -
Layzer Carolyn,
Rosapep Lauren,
Barr Sherry
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
journal of school health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.851
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1746-1561
pISSN - 0022-4391
DOI - 10.1111/josh.12519
Subject(s) - medical education , focus group , psychology , peer education , reproductive health , peer group , health education , pedagogy , medicine , public health , developmental psychology , population , sociology , nursing , environmental health , anthropology
ABSTRACTBACKGROUND This process study is a companion to a randomized evaluation of a school‐based, peer‐led comprehensive sexual health education program, Teen Prevention Education Program (Teen PEP ), in which 11th‐ and 12th‐grade students are trained by school health educators to conduct informative workshops with ninth‐grade peers in schools in North Carolina. The process study was designed to understand youth participants' perspectives on the program in order to gain insight into program effectiveness.METHODS This is a mixed‐methods study in 7 schools, with online surveys (N = 88) and 8 focus groups with peer educators (N = 116), end‐of‐program surveys (N = 1122), 8 focus groups with ninth‐grade workshop participants (N = 89), and observations of the Teen PEP class and workshops during the semester of implementation in each school, 2012‐2014.RESULTS Both peer educators and ninth graders perceived benefits of participating in Teen PEP across a range of domains, including intentions, skills, and knowledge and that the peer education modality was important in their valuation of the experience.CONCLUSIONS Our findings suggest that the peer‐led comprehensive sexual health education approach embodied in Teen PEP can be an important educational mechanism for teaching students information and skills to promote sexual health.