Lessons learned from the implementation of the Young Deadly Free peer education programme in remote and very remote Australian Aboriginal communities

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.

KEYWORDS:

• Aboriginal
• sexual health
• sexually transmissible infections
• health promotion
• youth
• evaluation

Acknowledgments

We thank the Aboriginal communities that contributed to the success of the youth peer education programme and the young people for their participation and commitment. We also extend our thanks to regional coordinators and the project team for their role in the implementation and evaluation of the youth peer education programme.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The Young Deadly Free program and evaluation were supported by the Australian Government Department of Health’s Communicable Disease Prevention and Service Improvements Grants Fund under Activity 6 – Deliver measurable increases to testing and treatment rates for BBV and STI for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples living in remote and very remote communities.