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In response to limitations in state-based occupational disease surveillance, the California Department of Health Services developed a model for surveillance of acute, work-related pesticide illness. The objectives were to enhance case reporting and link case reports to preventive interventions. Risk factors for pesticide illness were prevalent. 

The California Pesticide Illness Surveillance Program (PISP) is a major resource for pesticide illness epidemiology. This work attempts to improve characterization of pesticide illness in California, evaluate case ascertainment of the PISP and identify PISP’s limitations and biases for studying the incidence and epidemiology of pesticide-related illness. 

Public health surveillance for acute pesticide intoxications is discussed. Explanation of the goals, components and functions of population-based surveillance is provided with reference to key informational sources.

Pesticide Action Network, United Farmworkers of America, and California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation analyzed California government data on agricultural poisonings and enforcement of worker safety standards. Nearly 500 pesticide poisonings were reported for California farmworkers every year. The actual number of pesticide-related illnesses is unknown, since many poisonings go unreported. 

Surveillance data show that pesticide-related illness is an important cause of acute morbidity among migrant farm workers in California. Exposures occur in various ways (e.g., residues, drift), suggesting that the use of pesticides creates a hazardous work environment for all farm workers  Improved education for health care providers should be a priority. Growers should be educated about alternative forms of pest control and incentives should be provided to encourage their use.

Describes the growth from 1987 through 1996 of the Occupational Pesticide Poisoning Surveillance Program at the Texas Department of Health. The program was initially based on a Sentinel Event Notification System for Occupational Risks (SENSOR) model, using sentinel providers to report cases, supplementing the passive reporting by physicians that was required by law. 

The authors describe the growth of the Occupational Pesticide Poisoning Surveillance Program at the Texas Department of Health. The program was based on a Sentinel Event Notification System for Occupational Risks(SENSOR) model, using sentinel providers to report cases. The number of confirmed occupational cases increased from 9 workers in 1987 to 99 workers in 1996.

Matthew C. Keifer, MD, MPH; Iris Reyes, MPH; Amy K. Liebman, MA, MPA; Patricia Juarez-Carrillo, PhD, MPH.  Abstract. Audience response systems (ARS) have long been used to improve the interactivity of educational activities. Most studies of ARS have addressed education of literate trainees. How well these devices work with low-literacy subjects is not well studied. Information gathering on the training audience is an important use of ARS and helpful in improving the targeting of training information. However, obtaining demographic information from vulnerable populations with reasons to be concerned about divulging information about themselves has not been tested. In addition, a culturally competent method to effectively collect demographic and evaluation data of this growing population is essential. This project investigated the use of ARS to gather information from Hispanic immigrant workers, many of whom are socially vulnerable and have limited English proficiency (LEP) and low-literacy. Workers attended focus groups and were asked to use ARS devices or clickers to respond to questions. Questions were both catergorical (multiple choice) and open-ended numerical (text entry), and varied from simple queries to more sensitive points regarding immigration. Most workers answered the one-key response categorical questions with little difficulty. In contrast, some participants struggled when responding to numerical questions, especially when the response required pressing multiple clicker keys. An overwhelming majority of participants reported that the clickers were comfortable and easy to use despite the challenges presented by the more complex responses. The error rate increased as question complexity increased and the trend across three ordered categories of response complexity reached statistical significance. Results suggest that ARS is a viable method for gathering dichotomous or higher-order categorical information from LEP and low-literacy populations in a group setting while assuring anonymity. However, it is recommended that clickers be developed and tested with fewer, bigger, and more widely separated buttons, and less printing on the buttons for these populations. Further research is needed to determine the effectiveness of using clickers with simplified configurations in the workplace as a tool to collect data for surveys and assessments and to better engage LEP and low-literacy workers in training sessions. 

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Hombres Unidos is a peer-led workshop focused on the primary prevention of sexual and intimate partner violence (s/ipv) with Latino migrant men.  Developed in 2005 with the support from the Centers for Disease and Control, this five session workshop is implemented using a popular education technique (Paulo Freire) which is a concept that incorporates notions of class, political struggle and social transformation.  

This webinar (sponsored by the Washington Coalition of Sexual Assault Programs) focuses on the collaborative development of a primary prevention workshop for Latino migrant men, the evaluation of the workshop, and the continuing effort on engaging Latino migrant men as allies with women in s/ipv prevention after the five session workshop.

After this webinar, participants will be able to identify:

  • methods on how to begin a conversation on sexual and intimate partner violence with Latino migrant men
  • process and outcome evaluation techniques on a primary prevention workshop developed for a specific population
  • efforts to continue to engage Latino migrant men in sexual and intimate partner violence prevention
  • how to incorporate existing efforts with your population

Recording & Materials

During the webinar, Adrian referenced a few handouts that are used in the program.  Below you will find a few of these in Spanish.

Summary of Results from the California Pesticide Illness Surveillance Program - 2010.  

 The Department of Pesticide Regulation administers the California pesticide safety program, widely regarded as the most stringent in the nation.  Mandatory reporting of pesticide illnesses has been part of this comprehensive program since 1971.  Illness reports are collected, evaluated and analyzed by program staff.  PISP is the oldest and largest program of its kind in the nation; its scientists provide data to regulators, advocates, industry, and indivudal citizens.

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The CHAMACOS study is a longitudinal birth cohort study examining chemicals and other factors in the environment and children's health. 

In 1999-2000, CHAMACOS enrolled 601 pregnant women living in the agircultural Salinas Valley.  They are following their children through age 12 to measure their exposures to pesticides and other chemicals and to determine if this exposure impacts their growth, health, and development. 

Despite ongoing concern about pesticide exposure of farmworkers and their families, relatively few studies have tried to directly test the association of behavioral and environmental factors with pesticide exposure in this population.  This study seeks to identify factors potentially associated with pesticide exposure among farmworkers; grade the evidence in the peer-reviewed literature for such associations; and propose a minimum set of measures necessary to understand farmworker risk for pesticide exposure.   From: Environmental Health Perspectives

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Print, cut, and distribute this handy bookmark to providers who treat migrant and seasonal farmworker patients. The bookmark includes links and a qr code to connect you to pesticide - related clinical tools and resources. In addition, we've included some useful phone numbers in case of a pesticide emergency.

You can also use the bookmark to keep handy the Health Network phone number to be sure your patients on the move remain in care.

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Safety and Health on the Farm

Este libro cómic bilingüe a todo color trata la indemnización laboral por accidente, los derechos y responsabilidades de los trabajadores inmigrantes que trabajan en granjas lecheras. Cuenta la historia de un trabajador mexicano de una granja lechera que se lesiona en el trabajo y los pasos que él y su empleador dan para asegurarse de que reciba sus beneficios y la granja mejore su seguridad. Incluye historias aplicables en todo Estados Unidos y otras específicas de cada estado. 

The resources listed below are available from the National Immigration Law Center’s website, www.nilc.org. Each of them is subject to being updated or otherwise revised as new developments warrant. The documents available from the links provided here may be downloaded by individual readers and either printed out or viewed electronically, but electronic copies of the documents MAY NOT BE UPLOADED TO ANY WEBSITE other than NILC’s.

These resources from the Health Insurance Marketplace can be used to help direct clients to information about the Affordable Care Act.

This resource summarizes key points to bring up with your patients who have questions about ACA.

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This resource from the Health Insurance Marketplace and the Health Services and Resources Administration provides a concise summary of key points that clinicians need to know about ACA.

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Families Talking Together (FTT) is an evidence based program designed to help Latino parents better communicate with their children and teens about healthy relationships, sex, contraceptive use, and preventing pregnancy.  Dr. Vincent Guilamo-Ramos, the creator of the program and co-director of the Center for Latino Adolescent and Family Health at New York University’s Silver School of Social work, along with Planned Parenthood Los Angeles and Visión y Compromiso, recently enlisted 25 promotores (community health workers) from three communities in California with high rates of teen pregnancy and high percentages of Latinos in an effort to help Latino parents address teen pregnancy. Over a four-day period, the 25 promotores were trained to deliver the FTT intervention.  In the next two months, the promotores will deliver the intervention to 250 families in California.  The National Campaign wishes to recognize and thank Dr. Guilamo-Ramos, PPLA, and Visión y Compromiso for their work on this innovative and important project. 

The FTT intervention—both the community health worker curriculum and parent materials---are available online, free of charge.  

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A report prepared by researchers at The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services features a wealth of information on occupational health and safety and the migrant population, from farmworkers to fast-food chain employees to restaurant cooks and servers.

News release:
http://defendingscience.org/news/labor-day-looking-back-year-us-occupational-health-and-safety

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Dramatic, visual and culturally relevant, fotonovelas are a successful means of communicating health information. The following fotonovela materials are downloadable.

Provided by Farmworker Justice 

Dramatic, visual and culturally relevant, fotonovelas are a successful means of communicating health information. The following fotonovela materials are downloadable.

 

Provided by Farmworker Justice

Dramatic, visual and culturally relevant, fotonovelas are a successful means of communicating health information. The following fotonovela materials are downloadable. 
 

Provided by Farmworker Justice

Two high-production value, Spanish radio public service announcements(PSAs) to promote HIV testing services at local agencies. One PSA targets men and the other women. Each PSA features a blank space for you to record your organization’s contact information. Provided by Farmworker Justice

This webinar is the sixth in a series of seven in our Clinician Orienatation to Migration Health.

DATE RECORDED: Wednesday, July 17, 2013
PRESENTED BY: Candace Kugel, FNP, CNM, Specialist in Clinical Systems & Women's Health and Melissa Bailey, Executive Director of North Carolina Field, Inc.

To view the recorded version of this webinar, click here.

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Geoffrey M. Calvert, Walter A. Alarcon, Ann Chelminski,
Mark S. Crowley, Rosanna Barrett, Adolfo Correa, Sheila
Higgins, Hugo L. Leon, Jane Correia, Alan Becker,
Ruth H. Allen and Elizabeth Evans
doi:10.1289/ehp.9647 (available at http://dx.doi.org/)
Online 21 February 2007

Geoffrey M. Calvert, Walter A. Alarcon, Ann Chelminski,Mark S. Crowley, Rosanna Barrett, Adolfo Correa, SheilaHiggins, Hugo L. Leon, Jane Correia, Alan Becker,Ruth H. Allen and Elizabeth Evans

doi:10.1289/ehp.9647 (available at http://dx.doi.org/) Online 21 February 2007

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Introduction

In August of 2005, the North Carolina Division of Public Health, Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology Branch (OEEB) was notified that three women who had worked on farms in North Carolina owned by Ag-Mart had delivered infants with birth defects.  All three births took place in Florida where the women also worked on Ag-Mart farms and lived near each other.  This report summarizes the OEEB’s investigation and assessment of the pesticide exposures likely experienced by these women while in North Carolina. 

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The Diabetes and Healthy Eyes Toolkit provides community health workers with tools to inform people with diabetes about diabetic eye disease and maintaining healthy vision. The toolkit has a flipchart that is easy to use in community settings and can be incorporated into existing diabetes classes or information sessions. It is available in English andSpanish.

California Poison Control System developed an online game that focuses on poison prevention through the use of "look-a-like" pills and candy. There are other resources on the site. The game is available as an app on itunes and in the android marketplace. Search for 'Choose your Poison.'

This website and training material were developed to give communities and promotores ways to help farm workers learn how to protect themselves from pesticide exposure.

The project and all materials on the website were developed by the California Poison Control System in collaboration with the the Western Center for Agricultural Health and Safety at the University of California, Davis and the California Department of Pesticide Regulation.

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