Community Partners for Healthy Farming Intervention Research

States involved in project: Iowa and Nebraska

A growing body of evidence suggests that innovative methods are needed to motivate safer behaviors among farmers to create safer farm work environments, in order to reduce the inordinately high rates of farm-related fatalities, injuries, and occupational illnesses. We developed the incentive-based (health insurance premium reduction), Certified Safe Farm (CSF) system in 1996, and initiated a pilot study to test its effectiveness in 1997. The criteria for certification were developed, personnel were trained, and the certification process was initiated on 150 randomly selected farms in northwestern Iowa. One hundred fifty control farms were also recruited. The CSF program consists of three components: 1) a preventive health screening; 2) an on-farm safety review; and 3) individualized education specific to hazards on participating farms. A mental health counseling component was added in 1998 to provide an appropriate response to the needs of family farmers suffering from the current farm crisis.

We propose to conduct prospective research in order to gain sufficient evaluation information on the effectiveness of the CSF intervention program. This four-year proposal will provide continued financial incentive funds for participating farms for two years beyond the current two-year CSF pilot project. In years three and four, this project will transition into a sustainability and dissemination phase, during which insurance discounts and other financial incentives will incrementally replace grant funds to cover the services and incentives. A summit meeting will be held in year three to bring together stakeholders and to initiate the development of sustainable implementation models. A series of workshops and focus groups among stakeholders, participating farmers, and service providers will be held to plan future actions based on study findings, farmer and service provider experiences, and stakeholder expectations. A broader network of nurses and farmers will be trained to provide CSF services.

The initial NIOSH funding (U06/CCU712913) established the groundwork for the CSF program. The proposed continuation of the project is important to substantiate the benefits, gain broader private sector commitment, build an infrastructure of trained service providers, and find sustainable models in collaboration with insurance companies and other private sector community partners.

• Certified Safe Farm
  http://www.public-health.uiowa.edu/icash/csf/

NOTE: This document is provided for historical purposes only.