The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #48818

Kerry Souza, MPH, Elise Pechter, MPH, CIH, and Letitia Davis, ScD. Occupational Health Surveillance Program, Massachusetts Department of Public Health, 250 Washington Street, Boston, MA 02108, 617-624-5693, kerry.souza@state.ma.us

Limited information is available about the occupational health experience of low-income minority and immigrant workers. Existing data sets rarely identify the race, ethnicity or national origin of injured workers. Minority and immigrant workers may under-use the Workers’ Compensation system when hurt on the job, bypassing a primary state-based data surveillance method.

In an effort to collect information about underserved populations, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health’s Occupational Health Surveillance Program (OHSP) initiated a NIOSH-funded project to access low-income minority and immigrant populations through CHC’s, which primarily serve low-income communities. OHSP contracted with eight CHC’s (out of 46 in Massachusetts) to administer short (approximately 15 minute) waiting-room surveys to a convenience sample of their patients. The survey includes questions about health and safety training received; recent experience with occupational injury or illness; perceived hazards in the workplace; and knowledge of occupational health resources. A total of 3200 surveys will be administered in the languages of CHC patients surveyed: English, Spanish, Portuguese, Cambodian, Vietnamese and Cape Verdean Creole. Data collection is ongoing.

This presentation will describe progress and challenges in coordinating research with CHC’s including: development of an appropriate survey instrument for administration to a diverse group of working patients; data collection by CHC staff-interviewers; and perception of CHC staff regarding the need for occupational health interventions. Lessons learned in planning and conducting this data collection project will be touched upon. Some preliminary survey results will also be presented.

Learning Objectives: Participants will

• Learn about one approach for occupational health surveillance of low-income minority workers
• Identify the role of CHC's in providing occupational health care and resources to low-income workers; and
• Understand challenges to administering an occupational health survey among a diverse group of workers

Keywords: Occupational Health, Immigrants

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.