Great Lakes Center for Farmworker Health and Well-being

GLCFHW Overall Center Abstract Hired migrant and seasonal farmworkers (FWs) experience unique employment conditions that challenge their ability to live healthy, fulfilled lives. Hazardous work, unstable employment, atypical employment policies, lack of government oversight and enforcement, extreme poverty, stringent immigration laws, and lack of social

support negatively impact the health and well-being of FWs. Further impediments include lengthy journeys across dangerous borders, inconsistent immigration policies, transience, non-citizen status, residence in remote rural settings, and limited access to healthcare and social services. Illinois is a major agricultural state

that hires upward of 50,000 FWs each year to support the US food supply chain. The overall goal of the Great Lakes Center for Farmworker Health and Well-being (GLCFHW) is to implement strategies and actions leading to systems change that protects and promotes the health and well-being of farmworkers across the US.

Specific aims are to: 1) conduct high quality research that elucidates pathways for change that benefits FWs; 2) build and strengthen multidirectional collaboration and engagement across eco-social levels to create networks that support FW health and well-being; 3) translate and disseminate evidence to promote policies

and practices that demonstrate the value and approaches to supporting FW health and well-being within and outside of work. We have assembled Center Administration, cores in Evaluation and Planning, Outreach, and Research, and Internal and External Advisory groups and we have garnered the support of stakeholders. We

will conduct three research projects: 1) to translate and test survey tools; 2) to link state-based data systems and outpatient records for surveillance of illness and injury among FWs; 3) to collect survey data on lived experience and biospecimens for markers of inflammation and immune response to determine predictors of

health and well-being. We will disseminate research results and translate our findings to action. Outputs. validated survey tools, surveillance data, methods and findings from research studies, network analysis, environmental scan, strategic plan, outreach and evaluation protocols, website w/ data visualization.

Outcomes. an established center focused on farmworkers, evidence for interventions, network of researchers and multilevel collaborators, pathways and mechanisms for dissemination, translation of findings to action NIOSH Objectives. NORA: Reduce risk of fatal/nonfatal injuries and work-related illnesses to workers and

vulnerable populations in the agriculture sub-sector. Improve reporting and surveillance. Identify and examine the impact of worker demographics on employer or organizational practices and worker safety, health, and well-being. Improve the safety, health, and well-being of workers with non-standard work arrangements. Other

alignments: research to practice (r2p), Total Worker Health promotion/protection of worker health and well- being; translation and validation of NIOSH Worker Well-being Questionnaire in precarious worker population.