Farmworkers at the Border: A Bilingual Initiative for Occupational Health and Safety

Abstract

Objective.

Bilingual and bicultural occupational health and safety interventions for Hispanic farmworkers are extremely rare and, because of language barriers and cultural differences, issues important to their health and safety on the job remain unaddressed. We designed, conducted, and assessed the first bilingual occupational health and safety education program for farmworkers attending High School Equivalency Programs (HEPs).

Methods.

We took an interdisciplinary participatory approach by integrating educators and researchers with a community advisory board to guide development, evaluation, and implementation of Work Safely–Trabaje con Cuidado Curriculum (Curriculum), a bilingual occupational health and safety curriculum. We created a quasi-experimental design using mixed-method evaluation (quantitative and qualitative elements) via pre- and posttest comparisons, follow-up surveys, and focus groups assessing the Curriculum effect on knowledge, safety risk perception (SRP), and safety behavior. Focus groups and follow-up surveys reflected success and acceptance of the Curriculum among participating farmworkers under the study's logic model.

Results.

Completion of the Curriculum resulted in statistically significant improvements in the combined score of knowledge and SRP at the posttest (p=0.001) and follow-up survey (p=0.02) in the intervention group. After completing this study, the Curriculum was permanently adopted by the two high school equivalency sites involved.

Conclusion.

The participatory approach resulted in integration of community and applied research partnership. The potential to expand use of this Curriculum by other HEP sites can further assess effectiveness and external validity among underserved minority groups.

References

Moure-Eraso

Friedman-Jimenez

. Occupational health among Latino workers: a needs assessment and recommended interventions. New Solut 2004;14:319–47.

O'Connor

. Reaching Spanish-speaking workers and employers with occupational safety and health information. In: Committee on Communicating Occupational Safety and Health Information to Spanish-speaking Workers, Committee on Earth Resources, National Research Council. Safety is seguridad: a workshop summary. Washington: The National Academies Press; 2003. p. 93–112.

Acosta

M Vela

Lee

. Migrant and seasonal hired adolescent farmworkers: a plan to improve working conditions. Marshfield (WI): Marshfield Clinic; 2001. Also available from: URL: http://www.marshfieldclinic.org/ldf/MCRF-Centers-NFMC-nccrahs-reportsmigrant.pdf [cited 2008 Feb 2].

Acosta

MS Vela

. An examination of the occupational risks and occupational safety and health communication needs of Spanish-speaking children who are employed or live on farms. In: Committee on Communicating Occupational Safety and Health Information to Spanish-speaking Workers, Committee on Earth Resources, National Research Council. Safety is seguridad: a workshop summary. Washington: The National Academies Press; 2003. p. 113–28. Also available from: URL: http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=10641&page=11 [cited 2008 Feb 2].

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (US). NIOSH safety and health topic: young worker safety and health. Cincinnati: NIOSH (US); 2007.

Wright

Anderson

Brownson

Gwaltney

Scherer

Cross

. Engaging partners to initiate evaluation efforts: tactics used and lessons learned from the prevention research centers program. Prev Chronic Dis 2008;5:A21.

Department of Education (US). Migrant education—High School Equivalency Program [cited 2008 Sep 11]. Available from: URL: http://www.ed.gov/programs/hep/index.html

Acosta

MS Vela

. Occupational health and safety education for Hispanic workers at the border. Health Educ Behav 2006;33:425–32.

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (US). Promoting safe work for young workers: a community-based approach. November 1999 [cited 2008 Feb 2]. Available from: URL: http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/99-141.html

10.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US). Safe work/safe workers: a guide for teaching high school students about occupational safety and health. Boston: Massachusetts Department of Public Health and Education Development Center, Inc.; 1997.

11.

University of California Los Angeles Labor Occupational Safety and Health Program. Safe jobs for youth: a theme-based curriculum unit for high school students. 2007 [cited 2008 Feb 2]. Available from: URL: http://www.losh.ucla.edu/youth/curricula.html

12.

Carroll

Samardick

Bernard

Gabbard

Hernandez

. Findings from the National Agricultural Workers Survey (NAWS) 2001–2002. A demographic and employment profile of United States farm workers. Washington: Department of Labor, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Policy, Office of Programmatic Policy (US); 2005.

13.

Acosta

MS Vela

Chapman

Bigelow

Kennedy

Buchan

. Measuring success in a pesticide risk reduction program among migrant farmworkers in Colorado. Am J Ind Med 2005;47:237–45.

14.

Dillman

. Mail and Internet surveys: the tailored design method. 2nd ed. New York: John Wiley Company; 1999.

15.

SPSS Inc. SPSS: Version 15.0 for Windows. Chicago: SPSS Inc.; 2001.

16.

Krueger

Morgan

. The focus group kit: the focus group guidebook; planning focus groups; developing questions for focus groups; moderating focus groups; involving community members in focus groups, and analyzing and reporting focus group results. San Francisco: Sage Publications; 1997.

17.

Cortina

. What is coefficient alpha? An examination of theory and applications. J Appl Psychology 1993;78:98–104.

18.

Linker

Miller

Freeman

Burbacher

. Health and safety awareness for working teens: developing a successful, statewide program for educating teen workers. Fam Community Health 2005;28:225–38.

19.

Hall-Long

Schell

Corrigan

. Youth safety education and injury prevention program. Pediatr Nurs 2001;27:141–6.

20.

Hughes

Novotny

Wetzsteon

Petit

. Lessons learned from school-based skeletal loading intervention trials: putting research into practice. Med Sport Sci 2007;51:137–58.

21.

Payne

Gottfredson

. School predictors of the intensity of implementation of school-based prevention programs: results from a national study. Prev Sci 2006;7:225–37.

22.

Geller

. The psychology of safety: how to improve behaviors and attitudes on the job. Clifton Park (NY): Chilton Book Co.; 1996.

23.

Prochaska

DiClemente

. Stages and processes of self-change of smoking: toward an integrative model of change. J Consult Clin Psychol 1983;51:390–5.

24.

Hahn

Fuqua-Whitley

Wethington

Lowy

Liberman

Crosby

. The effectiveness of universal school-based programs for the prevention of violent and aggressive behavior: a report on recommendations of the Task Force on Community Preventive Services. MMWR Recomm Rep 2007;56(RR-7):1–12.

25.

Steckler

McLeroy

. The importance of external validity. Am J Public Health 2008;98:9–10.

26.

Campbell

Stanley

. Experimental and quasi-experimental designs for research. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin; 1966.

27.

Glasgow

Klesges

Dzewaltowski

Estabrooks

Vogt

. Evaluating the impact of health promotion programs: using the RE-AIM framework to form summary measures for decision making involving complex issues. Health Educ Res 2006;21:688–94.