 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Ruby Godina, Gloria Coronado, PhD, and Beti Thompson, PhD. Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, 1100 Fairview Ave N, Seattle, WA 98109, 206/667-7911, rgodina@fhcrc.org
Little is known about the effectiveness of strategies to change farm workers’ practices and beliefs related to pesticides. Studies indicate that farm workers take pesticide residues home from work, which may affect children’s exposure to pesticides. A large community randomized intervention study was conducted in Washington State to reduce children’s exposure to pesticides. One intervention strategy used in this project is “home parties” where family members and neighbors gather in a farm worker’s home and participate in an interventionist-led discussion about pesticides and prevention techniques. The purpose of this project was to characterize the beliefs and home practices of workers who attended home parties and compare these with baseline community survey findings. Telephone interviewing was conducted among a random sample of 150 home party attendees from two communities in the Lower Yakima Valley. A number of telephones were disconnected and some individuals were unable to be reached, leaving 92 known eligible agricultural workers, of whom 98 percent responded to the survey. Home party attendees were more familiar with the factual information of pesticide exposure than those in the baseline survey. They reported engaging in more pesticide protective home practices compared to community baseline survey respondents. Attendees reported having learned important key messages, including general pesticide information, washing work clothing separately from family clothing, and removing shoes before entering the home. Home parties appear to be an efficacious way to present messages regarding pesticides to farm workers and should be considered in interventions targeted to Hispanics and control of pesticide exposure.
Learning Objectives:
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.