Mixed Messages and COVID-19 Prevention: Why Information Is Not Always Enough to Protect Meat Processing Workers

Details

• Personal Author:
  Call TP ; Coburn JF ; Flores RR ; Flynn MA ; Kaur H ; Mahoney D ; Menéndez CKC ; Sivén JM
• Description:
  Introduction: The objective of this project was to investigate U.S. meat and poultry processing workers' knowledge of COVID-19; their perceived ability to protect themselves from infection; and perspectives on COVID-19 vaccines to inform COVID-19 prevention efforts within this linguistically, racially, and ethnically diverse workforce. Methods: Qualitative semistructured in-depth interviews were conducted with Mexican, Central American, Congolese refugee, and Black or African American meat/poultry processing workers from Mississippi, Minnesota, Virginia, and Kentucky (N=40). Data were collected from December 5, 2020 to January 28, 2021. Interview audio was transcribed, and rapid qualitative data analysis was used to analyze transcripts. Results: Most participants expressed receiving mixed messages about COVID-19 protection measures: they were told how to protect themselves (n=38), but workplace policies (such as lack of paid sick leave) often undermined their efforts. Participants who were asked about COVID-19 vaccines (n=31) were aware that there were 1 or more vaccines available to protect them from COVID-19; one third were eager to get vaccinated. Conclusions: Community-based efforts may consider supplementing large-scale unified information campaigns to prevent mixed messages, address worker needs to accurately gauge the threat of illness to their communities, and empower them to prevent infection. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Communicable Diseases Emigration And Immigration Food-Processing Industry Food Industry Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Vaccine Confidence COVID-19 Disease Prevention Food Processing Workers Health Equity Immigrant Workers Information Dissemination Meat Packing Industry Occupational Health Policy Qualitative Methods Vaccines

  More +
• ISSN:
  2773-0654
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Florida ; Kentucky ; Minnesota ; Mississippi ; Ohio ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 4 ; OSHA Region 5 ; Tennessee ; Virginia ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSI - Division of Science Integration ; DSR - Division of Safety Research
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  2
• Issue:
  4
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20067915
• Citation:
  AJPM Focus 2023 Dec; 2(4):100128
• Contact Point Address:
  Jacqueline Sivén, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1090 Tusculum Ave, M/S C-10, Cincinnati, OH 45226
• Email:
  jsiven@cdc.gov
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2024
• NORA Priority Area:
  Manufacturing
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  AJPM Focus
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:68bb67dd049b73ae4f5b844dc7659648880118dbb481b55af4efd7a4986fe9311169a35523c57cd8fb291d960ae1adf481d8eb20b15bb2b82967b4f7dabd9d5f
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/230149/cdc_230149_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 251.69 KB ]