The Peer Navigation Training guidelines emphasize a need for ensuring that all peer supporters be trained and regularly reminded of the following issues:

Confidentiality and setting boundaries – while peer supporters consider the clinic patients as their peers and leverage on this aspect to develop relationships that grant them access to their private space and information, young peer supporters need to remember to keep professional boundaries and be cautious about sharing confidential patient information.

Ethics in providing peer services – Refer to the Code of ethics and professional conduct

Positive and healthy lifestyles – Peer supporters model a healthy lifestyle not only to their clinic patients, but to the community at large.

Adherence to treatment – The primary role of the peer navigator is to ensure that the clinic patients understand when and how to take the medication. Patients need reminders and encouragement to collect their medications and have regular clinical assessments of their condition.

The life steps approach – “Is a brief, evidence-based intervention to improve HIV medication adherence that integrates informational, problem-solving, and cognitive behavioural techniques through the … “steps” (e.g., psychoeducation, attending appointments, obtaining medications, communicating with providers, coping with side effects, formulating a daily medication schedule, storing medications, utilizing cue-control strategies for pill-taking, responding to slips, etc.)”.

Communication skills – Peer supporters need to have the basic verbal and writing skills that will enable them to learn during training and assist the clinic patients with basic adherence tasks such as checking appointment dates on the clinic cards, sorting pills and communicating with the clinic patients.

Listening and counselling – Young peer supporters might take for granted the need to present a body language that communicates interest and presence to the peer patient.