ForewordThe aim <strong>of</strong> these Guidelines is to provide guidance on setting up, running and evaluating <strong>AIDS</strong> <strong>peer</strong><strong>education</strong> projects <strong>for</strong> young people. They were written with the practitioner and policy maker in mind, butshould be useful to young people or anyone else wishing to gain an understanding <strong>of</strong> the approach. TheGuidelines are a product <strong>of</strong> the Euro<strong>peer</strong> project, <strong>for</strong>mally titled ‘The <strong>European</strong> Joint Action Plan on <strong>AIDS</strong>Peer Education to reach Young People in and outside the School System’. The project is financially supportedby the <strong>European</strong> Commission, the Swedish National Institute <strong>of</strong> Public Health and the Department <strong>of</strong>Community Medicine, Lund <strong>University</strong>.In addition to the Guidelines, the project has produced an annotated bibliography on <strong>AIDS</strong> <strong>peer</strong> <strong>education</strong>and an interactive network site on the Internet (www.euro<strong>peer</strong>.lu.se). This site includes downloadable andpublishable versions <strong>of</strong> the Guidelines in French, English, Italian, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Greek andSwedish. In addition, the site <strong>of</strong>fers downloads <strong>of</strong> the bibliography (mainly in English), <strong>AIDS</strong> <strong>peer</strong> <strong>education</strong>project locator maps <strong>of</strong> the <strong>European</strong> Union, a news page, a links page, and discussion <strong>for</strong>ums <strong>for</strong> <strong>peer</strong>educators, practitioners, policy makers, researchers/evaluators and <strong>for</strong> general use.Euro<strong>peer</strong> developed out <strong>of</strong> a concern by its partners about the expanding use <strong>of</strong> <strong>AIDS</strong> <strong>peer</strong> <strong>education</strong> inEurope. Seeing a potential <strong>for</strong> the approach and agreeing to its health promotion philosophy, we felt that<strong>guidelines</strong> were needed. The growing use <strong>of</strong> the method had a momentum <strong>of</strong> its own, projects were workingin isolation, there appeared to be little consensus on what it was or where it should be used, and there wasan obvious lack <strong>of</strong> research on its effectiveness. The eventual partners and I had many discussions about theimportance <strong>of</strong> this task whenever we met at <strong>European</strong> conferences and meetings. In 1996, I moved to aposition at the Department <strong>of</strong> Community Medicine to continue researching in <strong>AIDS</strong> <strong>peer</strong> <strong>education</strong>, whichgave me the opportunity to manage such a project. The partners, with their excellent ideas and suggestions,willingly gave me their support.The methodology <strong>of</strong> Euro<strong>peer</strong> is based on an exhaustive review <strong>of</strong> the <strong>AIDS</strong> <strong>peer</strong> <strong>education</strong> literature andqualitative interviews conducted with projects in 11 <strong>European</strong> Union member states. A total <strong>of</strong> nearly 400literature items were collected, reviewed and entered into a database. Those items most relevant to <strong>AIDS</strong><strong>peer</strong> <strong>education</strong> in Europe are provided in the Euro<strong>peer</strong> bibliography. The projects interviewed were selectedby the partners and contact persons in various countries. Priority was given to projects running successfully<strong>for</strong> some time and/or had carried out an evaluation. An attempt was made to capture the cultural diversity<strong>of</strong> Europe and include a range <strong>of</strong> target groups.The interviews were conducted by myself, were tape recorded and field notes taken. If necessary, a translatorwas present. A total <strong>of</strong> 24 <strong>AIDS</strong> <strong>peer</strong> <strong>education</strong> projects were interviewed using individual or group methods.Interviewees consisted <strong>of</strong> 92 <strong>peer</strong> educators, 30 project co-ordinators and managers, 24 trainers, 13 projectevaluators, 15 consultants, 30 intermediaries and 21 policy makers at local, regional and national levels. Theinterview questions are included as an appendix. The responses <strong>of</strong> the interviews are not provided in theGuidelines due to the lack <strong>of</strong> space, but were used to create the content.Once the literature was reviewed and the interviews analysed, a draft <strong>of</strong> the Guidelines was written anddistributed to expert practitioners, researchers, policy makers and young people in 14 EU member states.These individuals, and a representative <strong>of</strong> the WHO Regional Office <strong>for</strong> Europe, then gathered at a three-day<strong>European</strong> expert meeting on <strong>AIDS</strong> <strong>peer</strong> <strong>education</strong> <strong>for</strong> young people in Malmö, Sweden. Deliberating inplenary sessions and in four work groups, the participants came to a consensus on recommendations <strong>for</strong> thefinal Guidelines and their method <strong>of</strong> dissemination (the Internet). The four work groups were:1 policy making and planning2 initiating and setting up projects3 training and implementation4 evaluation.<strong>European</strong> <strong>guidelines</strong> <strong>for</strong> <strong>youth</strong> <strong>AIDS</strong> <strong>peer</strong> <strong>education</strong> 5
The final step was to re-write the Guidelines and bibliography, taking into account the literature, theinterviews, the needs <strong>of</strong> practitioners and policy makers, and the expert meeting. The re-write wasmonitored and approved by experts and partners from each group.There are literally hundred <strong>of</strong> individuals and organisations who have contributed to Euro<strong>peer</strong> – I thankthem all. My deep appreciation goes to the project partners and the participants at the expert meeting <strong>for</strong>their hard work, wisdom, support and trust. Moreover, I am very grateful <strong>for</strong> the hospitality and opennessshown by the young people and adults interviewed.Several individuals and organisations need to be specially acknowledged <strong>for</strong> their extra ef<strong>for</strong>ts andgenerosity including: Advocates <strong>for</strong> Youth (Washington, DC.); Harry Black, Fife Healthcare (Scotland); theCenter <strong>for</strong> Disease Control (Atlanta); Susan Charleston (London <strong>University</strong>); the ENHPS Secretariat (WHOEurope); Catharina Edlund (UN<strong>AIDS</strong>); Jo Frankham, Univ. <strong>of</strong> East Anglia (UK); the Health Education Authority(UK); Jeffrey Kelley (Univ. <strong>of</strong> Wisconsin); Laurel MacLaren (Washington, DC); Seicus (New York); and PatriciaLight, UNICEF (Florence). My special thanks to Kent Johnsson, Ann-Christin Düfke and Anne-Marie Wangel<strong>for</strong> their hard work as Euro<strong>peer</strong> staff.Lastly, our grateful appreciation to D-G V <strong>of</strong> the <strong>European</strong> Commission, the Swedish National Institute <strong>of</strong>Public Health, the Malmö City Council, and Lund <strong>University</strong> <strong>for</strong> both their financial sponsorship and support<strong>for</strong> the project.These Guidelines are dedicated to the future <strong>of</strong> <strong>European</strong> young people, especially my two childrenEmil and Stephanie.Gary Svenson, Euro<strong>peer</strong> ManagerDepartment <strong>of</strong> Community MedicineLund <strong>University</strong>, Sweden6 <strong>European</strong> <strong>guidelines</strong> <strong>for</strong> <strong>youth</strong> <strong>AIDS</strong> <strong>peer</strong> <strong>education</strong>
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