Seven years of a occupational health community-based participatory research project in Lawrence, Massachusetts to reduce falls and silica exposure among hispanic construction workers

In 2006 a University-community partnership formed to address occupational health disparities affecting Latino construction workers in Lawrence, Massachusetts. The partnership of the Mayor's Health Task Force, LIUNA Laborers Local 175, the University of Massachusetts Lowell Department of Work Environment, Lawrence Community Connections and others worked together to mount a multi-year, bilingual assessment and intervention research project that concludes this year. This presentation will reflect on the process, challenges and accomplishments of Protección en Construcción: The Lawrence Latino Safety Partnership with particular attention to its adherence to the goals of community-based participatory research, the project's goals of reducing falls and silica exposure among Latino construction workers in Lawrence, and prospects for sustainability of the intervention following the end of NIOSH funding. From the perspectives of the university researchers and the community partners, we will share the magic secrets of maintaining partnerships through thick and thin, while producing both community change and rigorous research findings.