The Rise and Rise of Peer Education Approaches.

Parkin, S. and McKeganey, N.P. (2000) The Rise and Rise of Peer Education Approaches. Drugs: Education, Prevention & Policy, 7 (3). pp. 293-310. ISSN 0968-7637

Abstract

Over the last decade there has been a major growth in the use of peer education projects in response to a wide range of problems. The proliferation of peer education projects has not been commensurate with the limited evidence available as to the effectiveness of such approaches. This paper provides a short history of peer education techniques and outlines some of the definitional diversity in attempts at characterizing peer education projects. The paper reviews the limited evidence on the effectiveness of peer education projects seen in terms of the impact upon peer educators themselves and the target group of their educational efforts. The paper describes the results of this work and identifies the need to develop a model of peer education evaluation which, whilst being true to the nature of such projects, can also identify effectiveness of peer education in the short, medium and long term.

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