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

Abstract #117335

Jennifer L. Crowe, Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington, Box 357234, Seattle, WA 98195-7234, 206-499-6038, jencrowe@u.washington.edu, Matthew Keifer, MD, MPH, Dep Env & Occ Hlth Sciences and Int Scholars Occ Env Hlth, University of Washington, Box 357234, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-7234, and Jonathan N. Hofmann, MPH, Department of Epidemiology, University of Washington, Box 357236, Seattle, WA 98195-7236.

El Proyecto Bienestar is a community-based participatory research project focused on the occupational and environmental health issues of Hispanic agricultural workers in Yakima, Washington. Hispanic agricultural workers in the Yakima Valley provide the manual labor that makes Washington among the most productive agricultural states in the country. However, agricultural workers experience many social, economic, cultural and legal constraints to the health and well-being of themselves and their families.

Proyecto Bienestar partners include the University of Washington, the Yakima Valley Farm Worker's Clinic, Radio KDNA and Heritage University. The goal of the project is to study environmental and occupational risks and develop an issues-driven action plan according to the priorities set by the community. Several research methodologies are being used in order to best identify and prioritize risks.

This presentation describes the methodology, analysis and results of key informant interviews with the “Core members” of the project who have been working on El Proyecto Bienestar since its inception and/or throughout the first year. Data from these interviews were analyzed using qualitative methods with the help of N6 software. These data will be presented in conjunction with data from key informant interviews conducted with Community Advisory Board (CAB) members. Data will also be compared to and integrated with quantitative data from surveys conducted by local students enrolled in a program called ConneX. Finally, the need for community-based research in occupational health, as well as the benefits and challenges of integrating qualitative and quantitative methodology in this work will be discussed.

Learning Objectives: Following this presentation, the learner will be able to

• Identify important environmental and occupational health concerns among Hispanic agricultural workers and their families in the Yakima Valley, Washington state.
• Recognize the value of qualitative research methods (key informant interviews) and quantitative methods (community surveys) to identify environmental and occupational issues of concern in the community.
• Identify reasons for implementing community-based participatory methods in occupational health research, particularly as it relates to minority and underserved populations.

Keywords: Agricultural Work Safety, Community-Based Public Health

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.