A peer educator nutrition program for seniors in a community development context

In 1985, a community-based health promotion program, designed to improve the nutritional health of local seniors, was launched. In "Food for Life. Seniors Helping Seniors," senior volunteer, peer educators were trained to provide basic nutrition information and to show how this information can be used by men and women age 55 years and over, living in their own homes. This article describes the development, implementation and evaluation of this health promotion program. It also describes the project's evolution into a program similar to other community development programs in which the goals, objectives and plans to address specific issues are generated and carried out by community members