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. 2023 Jan 31;20(3):2604.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph20032604.

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

Tracy L Oliver  1 , Lisa K Diewald  1   2 , Amy McKeever  1 , Cerena A George  1 , Rebecca Shenkman  1   2
Affiliations

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

Tracy L Oliver et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

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.

Keywords: community health educators; food insecurity; food pantry; peer mentors.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declared no potential conflict of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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