Intervening to improve health indicators among Australian farm families

Details

• Personal Author:
  Blackburn J ; Brumby S ; McKnight R ; Willder S
• Description:
  The Sustainable Farm Families project was a 3-year demonstration and education project designed to influence farmer behavior with respect to family health and well-being among cropping and grazing farmers in Victoria, New South Wales, and South Australia, Australia. The project was conducted by the Western District Health Service, Hamilton, Australia, in partnership with farmers; Farm Management 500 (peer discussion group); the Victorian Farmers Federation; Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology; and Land Connect. During the 3 years of the project, 128 farmers-men (70) and women (58)-were enrolled. The project utilized a combination of small group workshops, individualized health action plans, and health education opportunities to encourage farm safety and health behavior changes and to elicit sustained improvements in the following health indicators: body mass index (BMI), total cholesterol, fasting blood glucose, and blood pressure. Mean changes in these health indicators were analyzed using repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) and McNemar's test compared the proportion of individuals with elevated indicators. Among participants with elevated values at baseline, the following average reductions were observed: BMI 0.44 kg/m2 (p = .0034), total cholesterol 48.7 mg/dl (p < .0001), blood glucose 10.1 mg/dl (p = .0016), systolic blood pressure 12.5 mm Hg (p < .0001), and diastolic blood pressure 5.0 mm Hg (p = .0007). The proportion of participants with elevated total cholesterol at baseline decreased after 24 months (p < .001). Such findings suggest that proactive intervention by farmer associations, rural health services, and government agencies may be an effective vehicle for promoting voluntary farm safety and health behavior change while empowering farm families to achieve measurable reductions in important health risk factors. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Agriculture Behavior Demography Education Family Farmers Health Promotion Men Occupational Health Safety Women

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• Keywords:
  Agricultural Agricultural Safety Agricultural Workers Author Keywords: Clinical Indicators Blood Pressure BMI Body Mass Index Demographic Characteristics Diabetes Families Farm Families Farm Workers Health Assessment Health Programs Heart Disease Humans Safety Education Sociological Factors Statistical Analysis Sustainable Farming Workshops

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• ISSN:
  1059-924X
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Alabama ; Kentucky ; OSHA Region 4
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  345-356
• Volume:
  14
• Issue:
  3
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20048895
• Citation:
  J Agromedicine 2009 Jul; 14(3):345-356
• Contact Point Address:
  Justin Blackburn, MPH, Department of Epidemiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 115 Kracke Building, 1922 7th Avenue South, Birmingham, Alabama 35294
• Email:
  blackjl@uab.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2009
• Performing Organization:
  University of Kentucky
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20060701
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Agromedicine
• End Date:
  20130630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:04e48be8faf0e2b2912468025971af56a5fbf9e159d2c15132062283d61b7c1dd5592f71331323848ee8cd7bc55110e89e6b42889a157a7435593d0cd28399a1
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/203515/cdc_203515_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 462.62 KB ]