To implement new method of peer education in Iranian prisons to improve knowledge of inmates on infectious diseases

Background: Weakness of knowledge of prisoners on health issues especially HIV/AIDS&Infectious diseases is a critical problem all across the world and it is not limited to a country or an especial society. Peer Education Program (PEP) is one of important harm reduction programs in prisons for providing information to change behavioral patterns. In this method members of the target group are selected and trained to transfer key information to their peers through face to face training or small group discussions. Peer education is a behavioral change strategy that has a known theoretical basis. Methods & Materials: Fission Model of Peer Education (FMP) for incarcerated inmates Each inmate was first educated by designated health professionals on HIV/AIDS and infectious diseases then requested to educate three other inmates with the assistance of pamphlets. Each of these three inmates in turn trained three more inmates, and the process continued in a spontaneous pyramidal manner.In each prison block, the initial training was just given to the one or two first-level inmate(s) and the knowledge passed on to the next levels spontaneously (Attached). The feedback was then retrieved by means of questionnaires attached to the educational pamphlets to be filled by the inmates. The goal of educating two leader inmates was to create two networks in a competitive atmosphere. The information was recorded and analyzed using a special software program designed for this purpose, and participating inmates were ranked and rewarded according to the number of inmates they educated. Therefore intervention of personnel in the above processes was limited. Results: This protocol were developed over a period of two years and implemented in a six-month pilot in prisons in 2010-2011. Then it has implemented in 17 prisons for 24 months up to end of Sep2013 (continuing now), also covering about 73,000 inmates. The educational topics were HIV/AIDS, STD, Tuberculosis and Health issues. Conclusion: The goal of the above models was to install a spontaneous, ongoing educational system with a competitive environment, and we seem to have been successful in achieving this goal. On the other hand, the M&E system of the protocols improved the efficacy of the process.

Abstract licence: CC BY-NC-ND

A person counts once a day per paper. We keep no cookie and no address: a reader is a hash that changes every day. Any month under five reads shows no number.