Peer Support
A growing body of evidence shows that pairing physical and mental health services/psychosocial support with comprehensive sexuality education, peer education, and outreach programs can reduce stigma and discrimination against adolescents living with HIV. Peer education and outreach programs have long been used to successfully reduce risk-taking and promote HIV prevention and testing. Increasingly, as generations of children infected perinatally reach adolescence, and as more adolescents learn their HIV status, education and peer outreach have evolved to address the rights and needs of adolescents living with HIV. The tools in this section include both comprehensive programs covering HIV prevention, HIV treatment and care, and sexual and reproductive health, as well as targeted peer education, outreach, and support curricula and handbooks focused on the needs of adolescents living with HIV.
Each linked resource page contains a description of the tool, with links to either an online version of the tool or a downloadable copy. Where resources are available in multiple languages, we have provided links.
For those interested in learning more about providing holistic support for adolescents living with HIV outside of a service center setting, we recommend exploring the resources available on the Mental and Emotional Health and Positive Living pages of this toolkit.
Comprehensive Sexuality and Peer Education
Adolescent Girls and Young Women Mentoring Program Toolkit
YouthPower Action, 2018
A comprehensive toolkit for training, supporting, and monitoring mentors for adolescent girls and young women on topics including HIV/AIDS and sexual and reproductive health alongside soft skills, financial capacities, violence prevention, and other topics.
International Technical Guidance on Sexuality Education: An Evidence-Informed Approach
UNESCO, UNAIDS, UNFPA, UNICEF, UNWomen, and WHO, 2018
Summary of the evidence and globally agreed definitions, standards, and key topics for comprehensive sexuality education. Available in English, Russian, Chinese, French, Spanish, Burmese, Thai, Portuguese, and Mongolian from UNESCO.
It’s All One Curriculum
Population Council, 2009
A comprehensive sexuality education curriculum including guidelines and activities. Available in English, French, Spanish, Chinese, Bangla, Arabic, and Portuguese from the Population Council.
Respect My Rights, Respect My Dignity Module 3: Sexual and Reproductive Rights are Human Rights
Amnesty International, 2015
Training and facilitation manual focused on sexual and reproductive rights advocacy for adolescents and young people.
Sexuality and Life Skills: Participatory Activities on Sexual and Reproductive Health with Adolescents and Young People
Frontline AIDS, 2019
Facilitation and activity guide for peer educators or others interested in running participatory learning activities with adolescents and young people on their sexual and reproductive health. Available in English, French, Portugeuse, and Swahili from Frontline AIDS.
Step Up Link Up Speak Out: Mentoring Toolkit
Frontline AIDS, 2016
A toolkit including facilitator’s guide, mentors’ handbook, and PowerPoint presentations focused on building youth advocacy skills. Available in English and French from Frontline AIDS.
Resources focused on Adolescents Living with HIV
iCAN Package: A Comprehensive Life Skills Package Focusing on HIV, Sexuality, and Sexual and Reproductive Health for Young People Living with HIV (YPLHIV) and their Circles of Care
SafAIDS, 2017
Facilitator’s guide and participant workbook designed for young people living with HIV and those who work with them.
Managing Grief and Loss
Frontline AIDS, 2019
Leaflet for peer supporters with tools to help young people living with and affected by HIV manage grief and loss.
Positive Connections: Leading Information and Support Groups for Adolescents Living with HIV
FHI 360, 2013
A facilitator’s guide, lesson plans, and evaluation tool for running support groups with adolescents living with HIV.
Positive Voices, Positive Choices: A Comprehensive Training Curriculum for Adolescent Peer Educators
ICAP, 2011
Peer education curriculum including facilitator and participant guides intended to develop program capacity to involve adolescents living with HIV in providing peer support to other adolescents.
Stigma and Self-Stigma
Frontline AIDS, 2019
Leaflet of advice to peer supporters to help young people living with HIV cope with stigma and self-stigma.
Types of Resources Key:
Training Tools: Facilitator and participant manuals and training activities designed to provide training in relevant topics for multiple audiences.
Handbooks/Job Aids: Guidance and tools for use “on-the-job” by health providers, peer educators, advocates, or other implementers. These tools are generally succinct and task-specific.
Global Standards: Minimum standards, best practices, and aspirational statements of core principles for the health and rights of adolescents living with HIV.
Implementation Guides: Programming principles and guidelines for developing services, outreach, or advocacy with and for adolescents living with HIV.
Curricula/Educational Tools: Educational guides, curricula documents, activities, and handbooks for conducting comprehensive sexuality education, peer education, or outreach.
Research/Best Practices: Case studies, systemic reviews, analysis of evidence, and recommendations for advancing the learning agenda on adolescents living with HIV.