Culturally Competent Methods to Collect Data and Give Voice to Brazilian Immigrants in Massachusetts: The Experience of Project COBWEB

The Project Collaboration for Better Work Environment for Brazilians (COBWEB) in Massachusetts (Projeto Parceria in Portuguese) aimed at educating and engaging members of a growing Brazilian immigrant community in Massachusetts in identifying, recognizing, analyzing, and designing a research agenda to prevent work environment hazards that affect Brazilian immigrant workers and their families. This presentation summarizes the variety of non-traditional and culturally competent methods used to collect workplace and demographic information and give voice to Brazilian immigrant workers in Massachusetts, to train Brazilian immigrant workers, and to generate discussion about workplace hazards in the Brazilian community. These methods included: cultural conversations with groups of workers in the service sector and construction; collection of demographic information provided in passport forms filled by Brazilian immigrants; participant observation of roofers and housecleaners; decentering, instead of the traditional translation and back translation of surveys designed in English; a photovoice project to assess workplace hazards faced by a group of workers; community production of the video “My Dream, Our Reality” about the immigration experience of Brazilian immigrants in Massachusetts; use of a comedian during worker training, and community-based surveillance activities related to fatalities of Brazilian workers. In addition, weekly newspaper columns and radio programs allowed Brazilian workers to continuously communicate with project staff about their work and life concerns, such as immigration laws and regulations, and provide feedback on a variety of problems faced by Brazilian immigrant workers.