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Abstract #156740

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William Carter III, BS¹, Marcia C. Trapé-Cardoso, MD², Edward Sapiain, Labor Educator³, Bruce E. Gould, MD⁴, and Israel Cordero, BS⁴. (1) School of Medicine and Masters in Public Health Program, University of Connecticut, 263 Farmington Ave, Farmington, CT 06032-6210, 404-274-5385, wcarter@mph.uchc.edu, (2) Department of Medicine, Division of Occupational & Environmental Medicine, University of Connecticut School of Medicine, 263 Farmington Ave, Farmington, CT 06030-6210, (3) ConnectiCOSH, 683 North Mountain Road, Newington, CT 06111, (4) Associate Dean of Primary Care, UConn School of Medicine, 263 Farmington Ave, Farmington, CT 06030-2926

Background: Migrant farm workers (MFW) beliefs about risk factors for adverse health conditions do not correlate with scientific evidence, suggesting lack of awareness of risks experienced in the fields. Focus groups and in depth personal interviews have been shown to be effective methods to obtain qualitative valid information about MFW knowledge, beliefs and practices. This project goals were: 1) to gain a better understanding of the health knowledge and attitudes, behaviors, and exposures which influence CT MFW health and 2) to select health-related knowledge and behavioral gaps to be addressed during educational activities. Methods: MFW clinic visits data gathered by the MassLeague from 2000-2005 were grouped based on ICD-9 and analyzed. Two MFW focus groups (N=15) and individual surveys with quizzes (N=34) were performed at a farm to evaluate understanding of the training provided. Results: The MassLeague data showed greater percentage of all potentially occupational-related diagnoses, with trends seen over the planting and harvesting months, during high farming activity months. The selected diagnoses were not significantly different from other diagnoses identified during UCONN Students' Primary Care Clinics at the farms but differed significantly from all remaining farms from the MassLeague data set. The interviews demonstrated that few MFW had ever received pesticide training. Training with pictures was more effective than without them. Conclusions: Lack of knowledge causes some illness promoting behaviors. To increase MFW knowledge the use of pictorial educational materials was shown to be effective. Further studies are needed to evaluate interventional methods and generalizability of results.

Learning Objectives: Learning objectives are

• Increase awareness about migrnat workers occupational and safety issues;
• Discuss a qualitative model for identification of occupational and safety health problems; and
• Review a model for immediate implementation of a training program with effectiveness measurements

Keywords: Migrant Workers, Occupational Safety

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No
Any institutionally-contracted trials related to this submission?

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

• Audio (mp3) recording
• Slides (pdf) or Handout
• Multimedia recording