B. Slabaugh-Wengerd
NIOSH Education and Information Division
The
three field nurses of the Ohio OHNAC project have used the
media as a form of getting information on farm safety issues
to their populations. They have used their local newspapers,
Ohio Farmer (a monthly magazine), Farmweek (a weekly farm
newspaper), and the Sugarcreek Budget (a weekly newspaper
that serves the Amish population).
There
is no way of evaluating how effective this type of information
delivery system is. With the Farmweek articles, the Occupational
Health Department phone number at the Ohio Department of Health
is listed for people to call for further information. With
the local newspapers, the local nurses usually give local
numbers to get further information. There has been a small
response to the phone numbers for further information, but
there still is no way of knowing how many people are impacted
by reading the articles.
The
other aspect these articles give the nurses is visibility
within their own communities. They are often associated with
a recent article or contacted because someone has seen an
article in the newspaper. This makes the surveillance part
of the OHNAC project easier when people know you when you
contact them to get information on injuries or illnesses.
Disclaimer
and Reproduction Information: Information in NASD does not
represent NIOSH policy. Information included in NASD appears
by permission of the author and/or copyright holder. More
NASD Review: 04/2002
This
research abstract was extracted from a portion of the proceedings
of "Agricultural Safety and Health: Detection, Prevention
and Intervention," a conference presented by the Ohio State
University and the Ohio Department of Health, sponsored by
the Centers for Disease Control/National Institute for Occupational
Safety and Health.
B.
Slabaugh-Wengerd, Wooster Community Hospital OHNAC Project,
Wooster, OH.
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