This article is the second in a series of three highlighting tips from the Safe and Healthy Children Training-of-Trainer (TOT) Curriculum, which will be made available on our website later this spring!
Imagine this scenario… A child is playing outside with friends while her parents labor in the fields. Out in the distance, the children can hear the familiar hum of a crop duster. The child’s home is old and dilapidated; there is chipped paint throughout the drafty quarters. This child resides in a valley that is suffocated by the constant presence of smog and other air pollutants. Does this sound like a familiar story? Do you know any farmworker families that encounter environmental hazards like this on a daily basis?
While we contend with a perpetually increasing toxic environment, it is up to us as health educators and outreach staff to ensure that information about how to prevent and reduce exposure to environmental hazards and toxins is disseminated properly to the vulnerable families we aim to serve. Outreach workers and health educators play an instrumental role in helping families understand and correctly interpret this information, which can oftentimes be scary, confusing, and complex. Recent immigrant families face additional barriers in understanding public health information, as they may be dealing with language and literacy issues.
To be an effective environmental health educator, consider the following steps:
- Gain a thorough understanding of the potential hazards/toxins that most negatively affect your community – Is your community experiencing an increase in crop duster activity? Is your community concerned about lead paint used in older housing? Is pesticide runoff contaminating waterways, jeopardizing your community’s water quality?
- Increase your knowledge about these topics – Key questions to research include:
- What are the toxins/hazards that concern your community the most?
- What are the toxins effects on the human body?
- What and where are the sources of potential exposure??
- What can people do to prevent and reduce their exposure to these toxins/hazards?
To help prepare you for environment health education, HOP would like to introduce you to the Environmental Health Toolkit development by Physicians for Social Responsibility. This Toolkit is a combination of easy-to-use reference guides and health education materials, which focus on preventing infant and child exposures to toxic chemicals and other harmful substances. The Toolkit, endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), was initially developed for use by clinicians; however, this resource can also be used by outreach staff and health educators to build their knowledge of environmental health. For more information on the Toolkit, please go to: http://www.psr.org/resources/pediatric-toolkit.html
- Determine how and when you will relay this information to your community as well as what resources you will need in order to make your educational efforts come to fruition – Will you host environmental health charlas on a weekly basis? Will you work with community partners to distribute educational materials to individual families during special events? Will you host a health fair specifically focused on environmental health issues? Will you leverage Spanish-language radio stations to help deliver this information? The possibilities are endless – remember to choose an environmental health outreach and education plan that corresponds with your available resources.
- Implement your plan – begin reaching out to community members and providing them with information about healthful behaviors for preventing and reducing their exposure to environmental hazards.
- Evaluate your efforts – Collect information on what worked and what did not. This information will inform changes that can be made to improve your educational efforts. For more information on health outreach and education evaluation, please contact HOP.
Finally, be proud of your efforts as a health educator and outreach professional. The work you do today truly saves and prolongs the lives of farmworkers and their families. And remember, if you ever have any questions or concerns about this topic or other issues related to farmworker health, please do not hesitate to contact HOP directly by visiting www.outeach-partners.org.
About the Safe and Healthy Children Initiative
Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR), Health Outreach Partners (HOP) and the Academy for Educational Development (AED) launched the Safe and Healthy Children Initiative, a pilot project funded by The WK Kellogg Foundation to address environmental health concerns among migrant and seasonal farmworker families. HOP, Physicians for Social Responsibility and the Academy for Educational Development created the Safe and Healthy Children TOT Curriculum for Migrant and Community Health Center staff as well as Migrant and Seasonal Head Start staff.