Experiences and Challenges of Peer Educators as Part of a Health and Wellness Strategy in the Workplace in Gauteng, South Africa

Abstract

Peer education is a behaviour change strategy employed to mitigate the impact of HIV and AIDS. It is widely used as a behaviour change strategy, both globally and in the southern African region. The researcher explored the experiences and challenges of peer educators in four companies in Gauteng, South Africa, and utilised a qualitative research approach with an exploratory and descriptive design. Convenience sampling, as a type of non-probability sampling, was used to identify four companies that had peer educators and were part of the Swedish Workplace HIV and AIDS Programme in Gauteng, South Africa. Four focus group discussions were used as a method of data collection and the data that were collected were analysed according to the themes that emerged. The study revealed that the experiences of peer educators in the workplace were mainly positive and offered them some opportunities, but also presented them with some challenges in the execution of their tasks. There was also a need to ensure that peer education becomes sustainable.