Lay Outreach Workers and the Ohio Migrant and Seasonal Farm Workers Health Education Needs Assessment
Author: Alvarez, Olga L.
Date Published: 1994
The Migrant and Seasonal Farm Workers Project sought to determine the health education needs of this indigent population in Ohio using the help of lay outreach workers. A bilingual needs assessment survey was developed containing questions on demographics, place of permanent residence, points of travel after working in Ohio, and type of work and length of stay at each travel point after leaving Ohio. A second part asked farmworkers what they considered the most important health problem for farmworkers. They were also asked to choose topics of interest related to their health needs and to offer additional suggestions or comments. Individuals from five rural community -based organizations advised development of the questionnaire, and lay outreach workers helped distribute and collect surveys during camp visits or during health fairs. Results from these 318 completed surveys (out of 500) indicate that the permanent residence of most migrant workers (67 percent) was Texas and Florida. Sixteen percent of those surveyed were seasonal farmworkers with permanent residence in Ohio. More than half of the workers were 26-45 years old. Perceived health problems in order of frequency were nutrition, alcoholism, stress, cigarette smoking, and drug abuse. Major topics of interest were alcohol and drug abuse, farm accident prevention, stress management, and domestic violence. The use of lay outreach workers proved an effective way of carrying out the survey.
Date Published: 1994
The Migrant and Seasonal Farm Workers Project sought to determine the health education needs of this indigent population in Ohio using the help of lay outreach workers. A bilingual needs assessment survey was developed containing questions on demographics, place of permanent residence, points of travel after working in Ohio, and type of work and length of stay at each travel point after leaving Ohio. A second part asked farmworkers what they considered the most important health problem for farmworkers. They were also asked to choose topics of interest related to their health needs and to offer additional suggestions or comments. Individuals from five rural community -based organizations advised development of the questionnaire, and lay outreach workers helped distribute and collect surveys during camp visits or during health fairs. Results from these 318 completed surveys (out of 500) indicate that the permanent residence of most migrant workers (67 percent) was Texas and Florida. Sixteen percent of those surveyed were seasonal farmworkers with permanent residence in Ohio. More than half of the workers were 26-45 years old. Perceived health problems in order of frequency were nutrition, alcoholism, stress, cigarette smoking, and drug abuse. Major topics of interest were alcohol and drug abuse, farm accident prevention, stress management, and domestic violence. The use of lay outreach workers proved an effective way of carrying out the survey.
