Peer sex education training and evaluation

Human sexuality has been recognized as an important developmental, emotional, and medical concern on the college campus. The Peer Sex Education Program at the University of Massachusetts/Amherst has been developed as a model for the use of trained students in an educational, referral, and counseling role. This paper describes the program and outlines the methodology used in the documentation and evaluation of various program aspects. Aspects described include the program's rationale and background, the recruiting process, roles and responsibilities, training and supervision models, community development, and delivery of service. Categories of documentation and evaluation considered include effort, performance, adequacy of performance, efficiency, and process. These are related to consumer acceptance and satisfaction, outcome measures of knowledge, attitude, and behavior, effectiveness of referral and other functions, and effect of program on the peer educators' growth and development. The allocation of energy and resources between program development, service delivery and evaluation needs is highlighted.