Peer Listening Line: An ethnographic approach to studying a peer health education group

For more than a decade, peer health education has been a central part of health promotion activities on many U.S. college campuses. Students assume a high level of responsibility, often leading campus-wide health promotion initiatives. Despite this important presence, however, the ways in which students experience their roles as peer health educators—and how effective they believe themselves to be in reaching their fellow students—has been largely overlooked. In an effort to address these questions, this study presents an ethnographic analysis of the Peer Listening Line (PLL), a university-based peer-run helpline offering health- and academic-related information and support to the student body. Using field methods including in-depth interviews, participant observation, and document analysis, we learned that the PLL was confronted with several financial and organizational challenges during the past five years that threatened its existence. We describe how, when faced with adversity, PLL members cultivated three key relationships—with the university administration, the larger student body, and the other members of the group—and, in so doing, were able to redefine and affirm their group identity, as well as maximize their support of health education efforts on campus. Finally, we identify innovative strategies in recruiting and training peer health educators, as well as publicizing peer health education services to the student community. Implications for both peer and professional health educators are discussed.