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Measuring success in a pesticide risk reduction program among migrant farmworkers in Colorado
Author(s) -
Vela Acosta Martha Soledad,
Chapman Phillip,
Bigelow Philip L.,
Kennedy Catherine,
Buchan Roy M.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
american journal of industrial medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.7
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1097-0274
pISSN - 0271-3586
DOI - 10.1002/ajim.20136
Subject(s) - medicine , demographics , environmental health , occupational safety and health , locus of control , agriculture , pesticide , demography , psychology , geography , social psychology , archaeology , pathology , sociology , agronomy , biology
Background Farmworkers in the US largely consist of young undocumented Hispanics with a median education of 6 years and limited English skills. The High Plains Intermountain Center for Agricultural Health and Safety bilingual pesticide risk reduction program, which complied with the Worker Protection Standard for migrant farmworkers was evaluated. Methods A pretest/posttest comparison of farmworkers (n = 152) assigned to either the experimental or control group was used. Independent variables included demographics, agricultural experience, and health locus of control. Dependent variables were pesticide knowledge, safety risk perception (SRP), and safety‐behavior outcomes. Results The bilingual pesticide program effectively increased farmworker's pesticide knowledge ( P = 0.0001), SRP ( P = 0.0001), and two (out of four) behavior outcomes. Workers with external health locus of control were less likely to adopt safety behaviors ( P = 0.0001). Conclusions The cognitive decision‐making process whereby farmworkers' readiness to change and permanently adopt safety behaviors was supported by the pesticide program. Our results support the need for long‐term sustained bilingual, intervention programs that demonstrated effectiveness using integrative methodology. Am. J. Ind. Med. 47:237–245, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.