abstract: 'Engagement of community members to act as peer workers is a key feature

  of many community-centred health promotion programmes. However, little

  is known about their experiences beyond the commonly reported themes of

  fulfilment through helping people in need and improvement of personal

  confidence, self-esteem and self-care. This gap in the literature is of

  particular interest given increasing involvement of peer workers in

  community-centred programmes addressing health disparities, such as

  uptake of cancer screening. This paper aims to explore experiences of

  the peer leaders who worked for the Cancer Awareness: Ready for

  Education and Screening (CARES) project to promote awareness, knowledge,

  and uptake of breast and cervical cancer screening among

  under-/never-screened women who belonged to ethnic minority, recent

  immigrant and low-income communities in Toronto, Canada. In 2013, three

  focus groups were conducted with 14 peer leaders to explore their

  experiences. All were immigrant women between 30 and 50 years of age.

  All discussions were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. We used

  situational maps and analysis to create a visual representation of the

  data, and to investigate peer leaders experiences. Situational analysis

  was chosen to bring to light dominant and also silent underlying aspects

  which define the meaning of being a peer leader. The first level of

  analysis identified main themes that characterised peer leaders''

  experience: (i) Helping others (women, friends and family) and

  themselves by improved self-confidence, self-awareness and self-care and

  (ii) Redefining professional and social positions through their project

  activities leading to professional development and networking. The

  second level of analysis explored the redefining process and identified

  some peer leaders'' negotiations in relation to knowledge (science vs.

  myth), beliefs (fear vs. assurance) and boundaries (private vs. work).

  Adding to the literature on the peer workers'' experience, the findings

  are discussed in relation to empowerment of peer workers, training

  implications and theoretical contributions.'
affiliation: 'Ahmad, F (Corresponding Author), York Univ, Sch Hlth Policy \& Management,
  4700 Keele St,HNES Bldg Rm 414, Toronto, ON M3J 1P3, Canada.

  Ahmad, Farah; Ferrari, Manuela, York Univ, Sch Hlth Policy \& Management, Toronto,
  ON M3J 1P3, Canada.

  Ahmad, Farah; Lofters, Aisha, St Michaels Hosp, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Inst, Ctr
  Res Inner City Hlth, Toronto, ON, Canada.

  Moravac, Catherine; Lofters, Aisha; Dunn, Sheila, Univ Toronto, Dept Family \& Community
  Med, Toronto, ON, Canada.

  Moravac, Catherine, Univ Toronto, Fac Med, Inst Med Sci, Toronto, ON, Canada.

  Dunn, Sheila, Womens Coll Hosp, Womens Coll Res Inst, Toronto, ON, Canada.'
author: Ahmad, Farah and Ferrari, Manuela and Moravac, Catherine and Lofters, Aisha
  and Dunn, Sheila
author-email: farahmad@yorku.ca
author_list:
- family: Ahmad
  given: Farah
- family: Ferrari
  given: Manuela
- family: Moravac
  given: Catherine
- family: Lofters
  given: Aisha
- family: Dunn
  given: Sheila
da: '2023-09-28'
doi: 10.1111/hsc.12352
eissn: 1365-2524
files: []
issn: 0966-0410
journal: HEALTH \& SOCIAL CARE IN THE COMMUNITY
keywords: 'breast cancer; cervical cancer; health promotion; lay worker; peer

  worker; screening'
keywords-plus: 'HEALTH; EDUCATION; SUPPORT; INTERVENTION; INVOLVEMENT; PREVENTION;

  NUTRITION; FOOD'
language: English
month: MAR
number: '2'
number-of-cited-references: '50'
orcid-numbers: 'Ahmad, Farah/0000-0001-9747-1148

  Ferrari, Manuela/0000-0002-7530-6210'
pages: 630-640
papis_id: ee7de1946d91c26302bc3a6b05e5d10b
ref: Ahmad2017expandingmeaning
researcherid-numbers: 'Moravac, Catherine/ABA-5315-2020

  Ahmad, Farah/B-4261-2008

  '
times-cited: '6'
title: 'Expanding the meaning of `being a peer leader'': qualitative findings from
  a Canadian community-based cervical and breast cancer screening programme'
type: Article
unique-id: WOS:000394976600032
usage-count-last-180-days: '0'
usage-count-since-2013: '12'
volume: '25'
web-of-science-categories: Public, Environmental \& Occupational Health; Social Work
year: '2017'