Siobhan K. Cooper, MPH, Warm Springs Community Action Team, po box 1419, Warm Springs, OR 97761, 541 553 3148, skc3722@aol.com

To begin to address health disparities among migrant and seasonal farmworkers in the United States, this poster examines the differences between empowerment education and participatory education. This study contributes to the literature on differentiation between empowerment education and participatory education through the development and use of curriculum criteria. This poster will present the curriculum criteria and show that the five different contemporary health education curricula in this study were more successful at fulfilling the participatory education criteria than the empowerment education criteria; and curricula were more successful at the incorporation of participatory educational techniques into a traditional education paradigm than using an entirely participatory and collaborative approach to curriculum development. The results of this study implicate three important conclusions that need to be further addressed. First, this study supports the assertion that health educators need to be precise with the conceptualization and articulation of participatory education and empowerment education, and use the different terms appropriately. Second, the results of this study call for a more thorough integration of participatory and empowerment education into farmworker health education curriculum, and involve farmworkers in every stage of curriculum development. Finally, this study asserts that the process of empowerment education, as described by Paulo Freire, is not feasible with farmworkers, and a new approach needs to be developed in order to address the root causes of farmworker health problems.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of this poster session participants will be able to

• List the essential elements of empowerment and participatory education.
• Identify 5 fundamental differences between an empowerment education approach and a participatory education approach.
• Evaluate the current use of the term 'empowerment education' and analyze the accuracy with which it is used.
• Evaluate the current use of the term 'participatory education' and analyze the accuracy with which it is used.
• Articulate the relevance of empowerment education and participatory education to the health of Latino farmworkers.

Keywords: Health Education Strategies, Social Justice

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.