Farmworker Vulnerability to Heat Hazards: A Conceptual Framework

Details

• Alternative Title:
  J Nurs Scholarsh
• Personal Author:
  Mac, Valerie Vi Thien ; McCauley, Linda A.
• Description:
  Purpose
  
  To review factors that impact the effect of hot environments on the human body in order to develop a conceptual model of human biological response.
  
  Methods
  
  The organizing concept for the model development was the multilevel integration of three major factors, exposure to heat, sensitivity and adaptive capacity, and the heat stress response. Exposure of a vulnerable occupational group was used to illustrate the components of the model.
  
  Findings
  
  Components of this framework include the hazard (environmental heat stress), vulnerability factors (workplace exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity), and the heat stress response. The combination of the vulnerability factors of workplace exposure (work intensity, duration), sensitivity (age, gender, etc.), and adaptive capacity (hydration, clothing, work hygiene) mediate a worker’s heat stress response to the hazard. A worker’s heat stress response can be classified as progressing towards two outcomes: physiologic equilibrium or physiologic disequilibrium.
  
  Conclusions
  
  This framework provides a starting point for the design and development of studies of heat-related illness (HRI) in farmworker and other vulnerable populations exposed to rising global temperatures.
  
  
• Keywords:
  Climate Farmers Farmworker Heat-related Illness Heat Stress Disorders Hot Temperature Humans Occupational Diseases Risk Factors Vulnerability Vulnerable Populations

  More +
• Source:
  J Nurs Scholarsh. 49(6):617-624
• Pubmed ID:
  28806486
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC5656499
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  F31 NR014611/NR/NINR NIH HHSUnited States/ ; R01 OH010657/OH/NIOSH CDC HHSUnited States/ ; T32 NR012715/NR/NINR NIH HHSUnited States/ ; T42OH008438/ACL HHSUnited States/
• Volume:
  49
• Issue:
  6
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:40cf13d01317795a5edfefc23dcf76cdf70be37c8ed5a8679f92a063929219c4
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/49347/cdc_49347_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 307.54 KB ]