In the Wheelhouse: Empowering fishermen through community partnerships to improve health and safety

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ABSTRACT The long-term goal of this proposal is to develop evidence-based strategies that coastal communities can implement to support the health and safety of commercial fisheries workers in times of economic volatility and rapid workplace changes. Our overall research objective is to better understand how industry volatility affects fishermen’s health and safety and to develop a template for empowering and assisting communities in the creation of tailored fisheries worker wellbeing programs. Our specific aims include: #1) Understand the Impact of Industry Volatility on Fishermen’s Health, #2) Launch a Community / Hospital Partnership That Ameliorates the Effects of Industry Volatility, #3) Evaluate the Impact of the Partnership on Healthcare Access and Wellbeing, #4) Disseminate Findings to Ensure Translation and Sustainability to Other At-Risk Communities. The rationale for this proposal is that while considerable interventional efforts have focused on reducing death and traumatic injury in fisheries, few interventions have acknowledged the cumulative effect of industry volatility and access to care on fisheries worker safety and wellbeing. This proposal meets an emerging and imperative need in the fishing industry. Expected outcomes include the collection of health data and feedback from fishermen on the impact of industry volatility on worker wellbeing. We will also test the potential of community / hospital partnerships for positively impacting commercial fisheries health and access to care. Given the unique and complex barriers fishermen face in supporting their health and wellbeing, it is important to develop solutions that not only increase fishermen’s access to healthcare services and resources, but also their willingness to utilize these resources. NORA Goals: This proposal addresses the following NORA Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing objectives: FI- 01 Reduce the risk of fatal and non-fatal injuries in the commercial fishing sector (by improving worker health); FI-02 Reduce the risk of work-related illness to workers in the commercial fishing sub-sector (by improving worker health); FI-03 Increase safety and health data meshing, information sharing, and collaboration among fishing safety researchers for workers in the fishing sub-sector (by establishing a community / hospital partnership); FI-04 Reduce injuries and Illness in the vulnerable worker populations in the fishing sub-sector (NEast lobster and intertidal fishermen dealing with financial stressors resulting from fishing closures).