2015 APHA Annual Meeting & Expo

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Recorded Annual Meeting Presentations (RAMP) are now available for purchase.
Only $90 for presenters, $140 for registered attendees and $200 for non-attendees.

Online Program

330760
Reducing health disparities: Implementing worker health education with ethnic community agencies


Wednesday, November 4, 2015

Jenny Hsin-Chun Tsai, PhD, ARNP, PMHCNS-BC, School of Nursing, Department of Psychosocial & Community Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
Elaine Adams Thompson, PhD, RN, School of Nursing, Department of Psychosocial & Community Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
Jerald R. Herting, PhD, School of Arts and Sciences, Department of Sociology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
Background/Objective: Conventional worksite prevention approaches, intended to improve worker health and safety, are relatively ineffective in reaching low-wage immigrant workers. Community agencies—which serve as resources, cultural/linguistic brokers and advocates for immigrants—are alternative avenues to reach immigrant workers and build community norms for promoting worker health. This study was designed to uncover the type and range of influences that shape decisions made by community agencies regarding whether to adopt worker health education as part of routine community service.

Methods: This qualitative study uses key informant interviews conducted in multiple community agencies (9 Chinese community agencies, 12 Chinese faith-based organizations, 6 Pan-Asian community agencies, and 17 nonprofits), all of which have existing programs relevant to Chinese immigrant workers. Domain and taxonomic analysis will be used to identify intra- and extra-organizational factors that influence agency openness to adopt innovative approaches for basic worker health education (WHEB).

Results: The analysis is designed to uncover patterns and relations among identified factors and to capture agency responses when provided an opportunity to adopt WHEB projects. The results will identify robust strategies for selecting and developing community partnerships to facilitate WHEB adoption, and will form the basis for assessment of WHEB uptake processes in actual agency settings.

Conclusion: Effective community-based collaborative approaches are needed to reduce health disparities among immigrant workers, yet innovation in practice involves complex, iterative processes. This study’s creative approach, which focuses on community organizations rather than specific worksites, will generate knowledge essential to advancing the implementation of evidence-based worker health interventions.

Learning Areas:

Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Occupational health and safety
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Public health or related nursing
Public health or related research
Systems thinking models (conceptual and theoretical models), applications related to public health

Learning Objectives:
Discuss at least two intra- and extra-organizational factors needed to identify and engage community agencies in becoming research practice partners. Identify the relevance of the study results for both occupation and public health practice and for research endeavors to promote Chinese and other immigrant worker health.

Keyword(s): Occupational Health and Safety

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have been the principal investigator (PI) of multiple federally funded grants focusing on Asian immigrant worker health using a community-system oriented approach, and am the PI on this study.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

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.

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