154543 Co-creating research methods with indigenous farmworkers

Monday, November 5, 2007: 9:06 AM

Nargess Shadbeh, JD , Farmworker Program, Oregon Law Center, Portland, OR
Santiago Ventura, BA , Oregon Law Center, Woodburn, OR
Julie Samples, JD , Indigenous Farmworker Project, Oregon Law Center, Woodburn, OR
Stephanie Farquhar, PhD , School of Community Health, Portland State University, Portland, OR
Nancy Cuilwik, BS , School of Community Health, Portland State University, Portland, OR
To identify the occupational health and safety priorities of indigenous farmworkers from Mexico working in labor intensive crops in Oregon, indigenous and non-indigenous farmworkers participated in six focus groups and 150 baseline surveys. This community based participatory project funded by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) is the first concentrated effort in the Pacific Northwest to gather in-depth information on occupational related health and safety conditions from indigenous farmworkers. Project partners include representatives and indigenous-speaking staff from the Oregon Law Center, Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste (PCUN), Salud Medical Center, Portland State University, and Farmworker Justice. Through leadership of indigenous project partners who were formerly farmworkers, project partners worked collaboratively to co-create the data collection instruments and protocol, including recruitment efforts, to co-analyze the data, and report results back to the farmworker communities.

The presentation is an overview of processes used to engage indigenous communities in identifying the priorities for improvement in safety and living conditions for a growing but underserved community in Oregon. The preliminary results reveal significant differences between indigenous and non-indigenous farmworkers' self reported occupational health and safety needs and current policy and practices. We will also offer suggestions for strengthening current policies and practices to protect the occupational health and safety of all farmworkers.

Learning Objectives:
1)Describe the training in which indigenous project partners participated in to assume leadership positions and reduce cultural and linguistic gaps. 2) Identify methods used to obtain data from communities in multiple languages allowing more in depth participation from indigenous farmworkers.

Keywords: Occupational Safety, Native and Indigenous Populations

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.