Using peer educators for a classroom-based AIDS program

Frustration over their inability to reach sizable numbers of students for an AIDS education and prevention program, even after employing peer educators, prompted the staff of the SHS to devise a classroom-based program. Sixty-five faculty members gave permission for the presentations, and the students represented a captive audience for the SHS-certified peer educators. Students have given very little indication of resenting this intrusion and have, in fact, been very positive in their response. Our initial evaluation of the first 2 years of the program indicates a need for greater recruitment efforts among students to serve as peer educators and among faculty to participate. It is also evident that we need to refine our evaluative tools, especially in regard to measuring behavioral changes, through use of a pretest-posttest design.