Peer Education
Peer Education supports UNH’s academic mission by providing students with opportunities to design and implement health promotion activities – for peers by peers – on campus. Peer education helps students make lifestyle choices that support academic success and enhance personal wellness.
At UNH, peer educators help implement:
- Educational programs for classrooms, residence halls and student organizations
- Special events such as Eating Concerns Awareness Week, Body Positivity Week, Fresh Check Day, Fierce & Fabulous Women’s Expo and National Nutrition Month Expo
- Outreach activities at homecoming, concerts and other campus events
- Educational tables around campus
- Social media and social marketing campaigns
- Peer-to-peer mentoring
Become a Peer Educator
All UNH students who have an interest in wellness and helping others are eligible to become a Health & Wellness peer educator. Peer educators are supervised by Wellness Educator/Counselors and/or a Nutrition Educator/Counselor.
We offer three unique peer education groups:
- Wellness Ambassadors
Provide educational programming and outreach about the eight dimensions of the Health & Wellness Wellness Wheel. - Nourish UNH
Provide educational programming and outreach about eating well. - Eating Concerns Mentors (ECMs)
Provide confidential peer-to-peer support and information about body image, eating concerns and eating disorders. - Alcohol, Tobacco, & Other Drugs (ATOD) Peer Educators
Provide educational programming to support peers in making informed choices regarding use and non-use of alcohol, tobacco, & other drugs.
Information sessions
Information sessions, which we strongly recommend interested applicants attend, are scheduled in the spring semester.
Training
Students who are selected to be Health & Wellness peer educator are required to complete iLEAP, a certified Peer Educator Training. At the end of the training, participants will be certified as a peer educator and have enhanced skills and knowledge to implement health promotion campaigns to peers at UNH.
"All the classes were genuinely interesting and I not only learned more about being an educator, but also learned about myself. I always told my friends interesting things I learned in class. I feel this class should be open to more people because of how helpful in life it is." - Peer educator
Peer educators gain skills in:
- Development, implementation, and assessment of health promotion practices
- Oral communication skills, including group facilitation and public speaking
- Interpersonal skills based on compassion and empathy for helping others
- Creative problem-solving strategies, including helping peers understand behavior change and developing attainable action plans
- Leadership skills, including helping other peer educators stay motivated to meet the program’s goals
- Culturally competent programming and outreach
- Creating community change through education, support, and advocacy
- Marketing and communications skills, including social media and social marketing
Peer educators gain expertise in the Health & Wellness Wellness Wheel:
- Emotional wellness
- Social wellness
- Physical wellness
- Spiritual wellness
- Environmental wellness
- Occupational wellness
- Intellectual wellness
- Financial wellness
Benefits
- Certification as a UNH Peer Educator
- Skills to build your resume
- Opportunities to network with variety of professionals and students
- Become a part of the Health & Wellness team
- Knowledge to enhance your own personal health and wellness
- Opportunities to be creative and have FUN!
Expectations
- Commit to being a UNH Peer Educator for 4 semesters (i.e. fall 2019, spring 2020, fall 2020, spring 2021)
- Complete Health & Wellness peer education training program
- Work collaboratively with Health & Wellness staff and other peer education groups
- Signed agreement to be a part of the Health & Wellness team
- Weekly time commitment (approximately 3 hrs/week)
- Weekly meeting (1 hr/week)
- Participation on sub-committee (1 hr/week), as needed
- Implementation of health promotion activities (1 hr/week)
- Monthly time commitment
- Monthly training on health-specific topics (1 hr/month)
- Attend Health & Wellness events as a peer educator (1x/month)
Application details
- Students from ALL colleges and majors are encouraged to apply.
- Applicants can only apply for one peer education position: Wellness Ambassador, Nourish, Eating Concern Mentors, or ATOD Peer Educators.