Peer Educator Networks “P.E.N.” in Cambodia

To read this in PDF format, click here

MoPoTsyo, a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) in Cambodia, organizes Peer Educator Networks (P.E.N.) to reach people with diabetes who are not receiving care. It’s estimated that 90% of people living with diabetes in Cambodia receive no care because of the limited number of health care professionals and prohibitive cost of services.

MoPoTsyo began with an urban P.E.N of five Peer Educators in five urban slum areas, serving more than 500 people with diabetes, which is supervised by a Diabetic Program Manager. In June 2007, the first rural P.E.N. was started. There are now well over 1,700 people with diabetes served by MoPoTsyo, which includes three networks and more than 40 trained Peer Educators. Each trained peer educator is responsible for approximately 60 people with diabetes in the rural areas. In the urban slum areas, they are responsible for almost double that number because they have been working for longer. All peer educators report to their Diabetes Program Manager, who reports to a Provincial Program Manager in their province.

MoPoTsyo’s Peer Educators have diabetes and understand the challenges of living with the disease. They undergo training and must pass an exam in order to return to their villages and begin working. Peer Educators take an active approach to recruiting people with diabetes through a community-based intervention linked to select Service Providers. They reach out to people in their homes to find new patients and invite them to join the community of diabetes patients they have created.