title: Effectiveness of community health workers for promoting use of safety eyewear by Latino farm workers.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health, Chicago, Illinois 60612, USA. Forst-L@uic.edu
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Forst
authors.forename: Steven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lacey
authors.forename: Hua Yun
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Rocio
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jimenez
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bauer
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Skinner
authors.forename: Ramona
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Alvarado
authors.forename: Leslie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Nickels
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zanoni
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Petrea
authors.forename: Lorraine
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Conroy
mesh_terms: 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