Designing for Peer-Led Critical Pedagogies in Computer-Mediated Support Groups for Home Care Workers

Home care workers (HCWs) deliver essential health services within patients’ homes and are an important part of the US healthcare system. Yet, they are a marginalized workforce, whose physical isolation and lack of access to support structures make them vulnerable to exploitation. Computer-mediated support programs may help bridge this gap and, through critical and liberatory pedagogies, foster material social change. However, such pedagogies typically assume the involvement of a professional facilitator when, in practice, support programs are often led by peers with little to no facilitation training. Based on a three-month study with HCWs, this paper explores how peers can perform critical and liberatory facilitation practice in an online support program. We illustrate the challenges peers faced learning this practice and performing this role in an online environment. Our findings can improve the design of computer-mediated support programs and how to prepare peer leadership, particularly for addressing the needs of marginalized populations.