Using Peer Educators to engage with BME communities in Bristol

Background FSA keen to engage with those BME communities which may not be reached by national campaign messages Funded Bristol PCT £50,000 for a 1 year pilot project which recruited and trained Peer Educators from several BME communities to deliver salt awareness and behaviour change sessions to groups

Bristol Salt Awareness Project: In a nutshell Formed a partnership of Dieticians, Public Health and the Black Development Agency Recruited and trained 10 Peer Educators from African Caribbean, South Asian and Somali communities Delivered 45 Interactive sessions to 27 different organisations reaching over 500 people

CONTINUINGWORK STATISTICS GROUP WORK 27 Organisations27 Organisations Over 500 PeopleOver 500 People 45 Interactive45 InteractivesessionsBRISTOL SALT PROJECT TRAINING & PROGRAMME WRITING DELIVERY OF THE INTERVENTIONMETHODS&RESOURCES MULTICULTURAL FOOD DAY CELEBRATING AGE EVENTS HEALTH & WELBEINGDAY RECRUIT PEER EDUCATORS EVENTS & STALLS MEDIA WORK PresentationsPresentations Shopping ToursShopping Tours Cooking DemoCooking Demo & Food tasting & Food tasting Flip ChartFlip ChartPresentations ActivitiesActivities Q & A sessionsQ & A sessions DVD/ ProjectorDVD/ Projector Visual AidsVisual Aids RecipesRecipes Leaflets & LiteratureLeaflets & Literature from FSA in different languages B.D.A MAGAZINE SOMALI RADIO NTERNET INTERNET OTHER DEMANDS DEMANDS BY PCT FOR BY PCT FORPEER EDUCATORS EDUCATORS CHINESECOMMUNITYWITHINTERPRETERS SALTAWARENESSWEEK MEDIA EVENT IN CITY CENTRE DRAMA PRODUCTION PRODUCTION WITH THE WITH THE‘MISFITS’ SCHOOLS TEACHING TEACHING PACKS PACKS

What worked? Strong acceptance of Peers and their messages Evidence of both behaviour change and intention to change Influence cascaded out to wider community Goodwill for future programmes created PCT gained an enthusiastic and skilled workforce Demand for Peers on other subjects

What did we did we learn?

We Learned that: Peers need and enjoy a wide range of training Peers need close accessible management The community should be involved in the planning of programmes There is a demand from the community for further Peer-led programmes Other health professionals are keen to use Peers

What were the greatest challenges? Recruiting Peers in a short timeframe Trying to fit a pre-prepared 5 session programme into the varying opportunities to execute it The timescale of the Project generally Bringing all the Peers together (for training or meetings)

What would we do differently? Work at a pace determined by the task Work with Peers to assess their training needs and include them in designing the programme Consult more closely with communities before writing the programme More team meetings (though difficult to arrange)

What’s next? Domestic violence Weight management Healthy eating (including more salt) Promoting healthy walking routes for breast screenings appointments Recruiting subjects for a mid-life online health questionnaire (MLLC) South Asian community heart health education campaign Supporting Diabetic patients toward healthy lifestyles