Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #108074

Jenny Chacon, MPH, Carolina Guzman, MPH, and Rajiv Bhatia, MD, MPH. Program on Health, Equity and Sustainability, San Francisco Department of Public Health, 1390 Market St., Suite 910, San Francisco, CA 94102, 415-252-3912, jenny.chacon@sfdph.org

Issues: The demographics of day laborers are mostly composed of Latino immigrants who work on a daily or short-term basis for multiple employers, and are an integral part of the United States economy. They live and work on the fringes of many cities and are vulnerable to workplace hazards and poor health due to working in high-risk occupations and industries. The day laborer community, which is migrant and transient in nature, challenges the capacity of many researchers to create inclusive and sustainable collective efforts for social change for this population.

Description: The San Francisco Department of Public Health commenced a participatory assessment process with the day laborer community and stakeholders (employers that hire Day Laborers, service providers, and governmental institutions). The goal of these qualitative and quantitative research methods was to determine what health and work safety issues were most pertinent to day laborers in the context of forming a community council and what factors would motivate workers to participate on this team. This case study will report the findings of this research, and discuss how the public health department fostered local community dialogue to improve the day laborers' quality of life.

Learning Objectives: By the end of the presentation, attendees will be able to

• Identify and three describe successful strategies for conducting participatory research with day laborers that reflect the cultural knowledge, needs, and participation of these workers.
• Discuss how to create effective community partnerships that foster and include the needs and participation of day laborers and stakeholders;
• Provide evidence based research for improving the overall health and well-being of a segment of the Latino community through a framework that focuses on improving working conditions.

Keywords: Collaboration, Underserved Populations

Related Web page: www.dph.sf.ca.us/ehs/phesmain.htm

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.