Empowering Community Leadership: Perspectives of Peer Mentors Facilitating a Food Pantry-Based Nutrition Education Program

Peer Mentors (PMs) are valuable health educators within food-insecure communities; however, little is known about PMs' perspectives and experiences after serving in their peer mentor role. Therefore, this qualitative study explored PMs' (n = 10) perceptions and analyzed data using thematic...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of environmental research and public health 2023-01, Vol.20 (3), p.2604
Main Authors: Oliver, Tracy L, Diewald, Lisa K, McKeever, Amy, George, Cerena A, Shenkman, Rebecca
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Community
Cooking
Curricula
Empowerment
Focus groups
Food programs
Food security
Humans
Knowledge
Leadership
Literacy
Low income groups
Mentoring
Mentors
Minority & ethnic groups
Nutrition
Nutrition education
Nutrition research
Peer Group
Phenomenology
Power, Psychological
Program Evaluation
Qualitative analysis
Qualitative Research
Recipes
Sustainability
Teaching
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Summary:Peer Mentors (PMs) are valuable health educators within food-insecure communities; however, little is known about PMs' perspectives and experiences after serving in their peer mentor role. Therefore, this qualitative study explored PMs' (n = 10) perceptions and analyzed data using thematic analysis based on descriptive phenomenology. Four themes emerged: (1) Successes and Struggles in Sharing Nutrition Knowledge; (2) Establishing a Conducive Learning Environment; (3) The Peer Mentor and Mentee Connection: Impact of Shared Experiences; (4) Empowerment of the Peer Mentor Experience. PMs have many advantages; however, more research is needed to evaluate the sustainability and efficacy of PMs within food-insecure communities.
ISSN:1660-4601
1661-7827
1660-4601
DOI:10.3390/ijerph20032604