A CBPR Approach to Biomedical & Behavioral Health Communication with Farmworkers

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Migrant and seasonal farmworkers and their families are exposed to numerous environmental and occupational health hazards, and they experience high rates of injuries and illnesses. Efforts to document the health hazards and illnesses that farmworkers experience have expanded. However, the involvement of farmworkers in the conduct of research that addresses their health hazards and illnesses, and the communication of research results to farmworkers in forms that they can understand and use remains limited. We propose a partnership between an existing framework of the community-based organizations and agencies that comprise the Farmworker Advocacy Network (FAN) and health scientists at Wake Forest University School of Medicine (WFUSM). The community-based participatory research (CBPR) partnership we propose in this application is based on two principles. The first is that farmworkers and their community-based organizations should collaborate with health scientists in selecting and conducting research that addresses farmworker health. The second principle is that farmworkers should understand the results of biomedical and behavioral science so that they can better use this knowledge to improve their health and quality of life. As a first step toward implementing these principles, this project will achieve three specific aims; we will (1) develop a framework for ongoing collaboration between FAN community-based organizations and agencies and WFUSM; (2) build the capabilities among FAN community-based organizations and agencies to participate in research on the health and quality of life of migrant and seasonal farmworkers, and build the capacity of WFUSM health scientists to effectively communicate with community stakeholders; and (3) identify, implement and evaluate effective approaches to communicate the results of health science to migrant and seasonal farmworkers. At the end of this project, the FAN/WFUSM partnership will be in a position to collaborate effectively in the conduct of research addressing farmworker health and to communicate the results of this research to farmworkers in a form that they can use. The FAN and WFUSM partnership will also be in a position to use their collaboration to translate their research results to inform policy that will improve regulations that affect the health and quality of life of farmworkers. Migrant and seasonal farmworkers and their families are exposed to numerous environmental and occupational health hazards, and they experience high rates of injuries and illnesses. Efforts to document the health hazards and illnesses that farmworkers experience have expanded; however, the involvement of farmworkers in the conduct of research that addresses their health hazards and illnesses, and the communication of research results to farmworkers in forms that they can understand and use remains limited. The results of this research will provide a framework for the Farmworker Advocacy Network / Wake Forest University School of Medicine partnership to collaborate effectively in the conduct of research addressing farmworker health and to communicate the results of this research to farmworkers in a form that they can use.