Youth living with HIV as peer leaders.
Community-based service providers often hire youth living with HIV (YLH) as peer leaders for delivering HIV education to uninfected adolescents. Life narratives were collected from 44 YLH during a hypotheses-generating two-year ethnographic study. About 30% of the youth were employed as peer educators. While 60% of the 44 youth had a lower-class background, only 23% of the peer leaders were lower class. One-fifth of the sample were female, but more than one-half of the peer leaders were female. After identifying and categorizing difficulties experienced by the peer leaders, a frequency count of each theme was conducted. Issues about professional boundaries were evident in 38.5% of the youth's narratives, indicating conflicts in their roles as peer leaders; 23% of the youth engaged in substance use and sexual behaviors that placed themselves and uninfected youth in their peer educator programs at risk; and 8% of the youth reported relapse while peer leaders. The observations suggest reconsideration or restructuring of existing peer-education models that employ YLH.
Luna
G C
GC
Department of Psychiatry, University of California, Los Angeles 90024, USA.
Rotheram-Borus
M J
MJ
D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology* / Q000635:transmission; D000328:Adult; D003376:Counseling; D005260:Female; D006679:HIV Seropositivity / Q000523:psychology* / Q000635:transmission; D006266:Health Education; D018451:Homosexuality, Male; D006801:Humans; D007857:Leadership; D008297:Male; D010379:Peer Group; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D012944:Social Support; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000517:prevention & control