Engaging Youth Advocates in Community-Based Participatory Research on Child Farmworker Health in North Carolina.

BACKGROUND: Wake Forest School of Medicine (WFSM) investigators and Student Action with Farmworkers' (SAF) Levante Leadership Institute, a farmworker youth program, are collaborating on a community-based participatory research (CBPR) study. OBJECTIVES: 1) Describe the collaborative process between WFSM investigators and the Levante advisory board during the strategic planning and implementation phase and 2) highlight practices that support the collaboration and project success. METHODS: The longitudinal Hired Child Farmworker Study examines the health and safety of hired Latino child farm-workers in North Carolina. Two Levante alumni co- investigators lead research-related activities with the Levante advisory board. LESSONS LEARNED: Challenges to CBPR with youth are overcome by the longstanding partnership between WFSM and SAF, attention to logistical details, power sharing, building on shared values, and assessment of youth preferences. CONCLUSIONS: The partnership between WFSM and Levante demonstrates the mutual benefit of CBPR and will continue during the upcoming study phases.

A pilot project to increase health literacy among youth from seasonal farmworker families in rural eastern North Carolina: a qualitative exploration of implementation and impact.

OBJECTIVE: There are substantial health inequalities for seasonal agricultural workers and their families in the United States. One identified inequality is in health literacy. The authors explored the implementation and impact of connecting youth from seasonal farmworker families who participated in a leadership and college pipeline program with Internet access by providing a tablet with a paid cellular data plan and university library-based health literacy training. METHODS: With the support of a National Network of Libraries of Medicine Health Information Outreach Award, we conducted a qualitative, utilization-focused evaluation by conducting semi-structured interviews from December 2017 through February 2018 with middle and high school age participants in the program (n=10). After parental consent and youth assent, we recorded interviews with participants at program activity locations or in their homes. We then utilized inductive thematic analysis with 2 primary coders. RESULTS: We identified four themes: (1) having access to the Internet can be transformative, (2) access resulted in increased knowledge of and interest in one's own and others' health, (3) "Google" is the norm, and (4) participant training increased self-efficacy to determine credible sources and resources. CONCLUSION: Providing Internet access and iPads was possible to implement and resulted in increased utilization of health information. The combination of Internet access with training on information literacy was a key factor in achieving these positive outcomes. The findings suggest the importance of ensuring equitable access to the Internet in efforts to improve educational and health outcomes for seasonal farmworkers and their families.

Latinx child farmworkers in North Carolina: Study design and participant baseline characteristics.

BACKGROUND: Although children as young as 10 years can work in agriculture, little research has addressed their occupational health. This paper describes a large, multicomponent study of hired Latinx child farmworkers, and the characteristics of children participating in this study. METHODS: Survey interviews were conducted in 2017 with 202 Latinx children aged 10-17 years employed in agriculture across North Carolina (NC). RESULTS: Most (81.2%) participants were born in the United States, 37.6% were female, and 21.3% were aged 10-13 years. Most (95.1%) were currently enrolled in school. Thirty-six (17.8%) were migrant workers. 34.7% had worked in agriculture for 1 year; 18.3% had worked 4+ years. 33.7% worked piece rate. 57.4% worked in tobacco. Participants in western NC differed in personal and occupational characteristics from those in eastern NC. CONCLUSIONS: This study has enrolled a large and diverse child farmworker sample. This overview indicates several important issues for further analysis.