Effectiveness of community health workers for promoting use of safety eyewear by Latino farm workers.
BACKGROUND
To evaluate The Community Health Worker "promotor de salud" (CHW) model is evaluated as a tool for reducing eye injuries in Latino farm workers.


METHODS
In 2001, 786 workers on 34 farms were divided into three intervention blocks: (A) CHWs provided protective eyewear and training to farm workers; (B) CHWs provided eyewear but no training to farm workers; (C) eyewear was distributed to farm workers with no CHW present and no training.


RESULTS
Pre- and post-intervention questionnaires demonstrated greater self-reported use of eyewear in all blocks after the intervention (P < 0.0001), with Block A showing the greatest change compared to B (P < 0.0001) and C (P = 0.03); this was supported by field observations. Block A showed the greatest improvement in knowledge on questions related to training content.


CONCLUSIONS
CHWs were an effective tool to train farm workers in eye health and safety, improving the use of personal protective equipment and knowledge.
Forst
Linda
L
University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health, Chicago, Illinois 60612, USA. Forst-L@uic.edu
Lacey
Steven
S
Chen
Hua Yun
HY
Jimenez
Rocio
R
Bauer
Susan
S
Skinner
Sara
S
Alvarado
Ramona
R
Nickels
Leslie
L
Zanoni
Joseph
J
Petrea
Robert
R
Conroy
Lorraine
L
D000062:Accidents, Occupational / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000383:Agriculture; D001294:Attitude to Health / Q000208:ethnology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003150:Community Health Workers; D005135:Eye Protective Devices / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011336:Probability; D015397:Program Evaluation; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology