What Is the PEGISUS Program?

Peer Education for Gender Inclusion and Substance Use in Southern Africa (PEGISUS) is an 8-session program to help young people aged 16 to 24 lead healthier lives now and better prepare them for the future. PEGISUS is built upon two other science-backed programs: RAD-PAL to reduce alcohol and drug use and Manhood 2.0 to develop more flexible and equitable beliefs about gender.

Importantly, we want these changes to be sustainable. To accomplish this, we deliver PEGISUS to peer groups. Young people and friends from their community take part in the program together so they can support each other as they make healthier lifestyle changes.

Because we know how important employment is for a healthy and prosperous future, we deliver PEGISUS within vocational training programs. Vocational training programs help people learn practical job skills, making it easier to find employment. We train existing staff who work at these vocational these programs in how to deliver PEGISUS.

Program Development

To develop PEGISUS, we started with two science-backed programs: RAD-PAL and Manhood 2.0 .

RAD-PAL is a substance use reduction program designed for younger South African adolescents, developed by team member Dr. Tara Carney. The program teaches behavioral skills to help young people identify their own motivation for reducing substance use, what triggers their use, and problem-solving to identify alternative behaviors outside of using substances.

Manhood 2.0 is a gender-transformative program designed to help adolescent boys and young men develop flexible and equitable beliefs about gender. The program covers topics such as: gender and gender identity, power and relationships, understanding emotions, and overall healthy living. The program is highly interactive with hands-on activities for participants to engage with these topics.

To turn RAD-PAL and Manhood 2.0 into PEGISUS, we solicited feedback using focus group discussions with young people living in the local community and from our youth advisory boards. We received feedback on the program’s content, activities, and language to make sure it was appropriate for young people aged 16 – 24 and their peers.

Testing the Program

We are conducting a clinical trial to test whether PEGISUS has a positive impact. Half of the young people and their peers will be randomly selected to receive the standard training of their vocational training program (mostly training in employment skills) and the other half will receive the standard vocational training program plus PEGISUS. We will compare the two groups on their substance use, beliefs about gender, and employment potential once both programs have been completed. You can read more about the planned research here.