A Campus–Community Partnership for Farmworkers’ Health: Interventions for Tomato Workers in Tennessee
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
Winter 1-1-2014
Description
Background: Migrant farm workers are exposed to job hazards in Tennessee, which is among the top five tomato-producing states.
Objectives: This project sought to cultivate and evaluate a partnership to marshal greater resources to address migrants’ concerns and to better prepare future health professionals to address occupational issues.
Methods: In the spring of 2008, an interprofessional student–faculty team at a regional university catalyzed a partnership with a clinic for migrants and a national network caring for the itinerant underserved.
Results: Several community-based participatory research (CBPR) activities are underway. The partnership has resulted in the following projects: Use of the Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA) method to identify job tasks likely to be injurious, development and use of a health screening questionnaire to capture more information about occupational health, and continuing education seminars for providers and a case-based curriculum module for third-year medical students.
Conclusions: Interprofessional service learning about migrant occupational health issues may have its greatest impact as participating students enter the regional workforce, caring for patients employed in slow-to-change agricultural operations.
Citation Information
Silver, Ken; Hoffman, Karin; Loury, Sharon; Fethke, Nathan B.; Liebman, Amy; Manz, Nicole; Manock, Steve; Andino, Alexis; Bradfield, Michael; Morrissette, David; and Florence, Joseph. 2014. A Campus–Community Partnership for Farmworkers’ Health: Interventions for Tomato Workers in Tennessee. Progress in Community Health Partnerships: Research, Education, and Action. (4). 501-510. https://doi.org/10.1353/cpr.2014.0056 ISSN: 1557-055X