National Association of People With HIV Australia (NAPWHA), 2020
The HIV Peer Support Standards, developed by the National Association of People With HIV Australia (NAPHWA), is a welcomed resource and addresses a long standing gap in policy and program planning of services for people living with HIV.
The evidence-informed standards provide a step-by-step guide that create a framework for procuring peer support services. A clear, mutually understood set of standards that provide a clear description of best practice will assist in co-designing a service model, with indicators for monitoring and evaluation. This will provide policy-makers and funders a set of benchmarks for procurement of services for the best peer support possible for people living with HIV.
Each standard describes the expected outcomes for people living with HIV who are accessing peer support programs. Importantly, the standards also describe the requisite skills and competencies
required of a peer supporter. It also explicitly recognises the need to invest in training and supervision for peer supporters.
The HIV Peer Support Standards will provide people living with HIV, peer supporters, service managers, clinicians and policy-makers with a detailed description of what can be expected of
evidence-informed practice of peer support programs and the benefit that peer support brings to the HIV affected community.