Health promotion practice
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Health promotion practice · May 2013
Evaluating the effectiveness of a lay health promoter-led, community-based participatory pesticide safety intervention with farmworker families.
Pesticide safety training is mandated for migrant and seasonal farmworkers. However, none is required for family members, who implement home sanitation to protect against pesticide exposure and need to control pests in substandard housing. Controlled studies have demonstrated the efficacy of pesticide education programs for farmworker families, but no carefully evaluated demonstration projects have shown effectiveness in public health settings. ⋯ Lay health promoters with limited training and supervision can have significant impacts on families' knowledge and practices. They represent a workforce increasingly recognized as a force for reducing health disparities by providing culturally appropriate health education and other services. This study adds to the literature by demonstrating their effectiveness in a public health setting with rigorous evaluation.