Participatory research and service-learning among farmers, health professional students, and experts: an agromedicine approach to farm safety and health.

Agromedicine developments in Alabama rest heavily on the interest and support of the farm community. Participatory approaches have been advocated in order to impact the safety and health of farms. The University of Alabama Agromedicine Research Team, working closely with and guided by farmers, places emphasis on identifying areas of farmer concern related to agricultural health and safety and on developing jointly with the farmers plans to address their concerns. Agricultural extension agents were key to developing the trust relationships among farmers, health professionals, and extension personnel required for these successful agricultural safety and health developments. In this article the authors describe how the research team engaged farmers in participatory research to develop service learning activities for graduate students studying Agricultural Safety and Health at The University of Alabama. Accepting farmers' active role in research processes creates an environment that is favorable to change, while providing farmers reassurance that their health and safety is of utmost importance to the researchers.

Agromedicine focus group: cooperative extension agents and medical school instructors plan farm field trips for medical students.

BACKGROUND: Current medical education policy seeks to address the health care needs of underserved populations, among whom are individuals associated with agriculture. METHODS: This paper describes a focus group approach to planning farm field trips whereby medical students accompany agricultural extension agents to study the personal, occupational, and environmental health concerns of farmers. RESULTS: The resulting plan joins a state's cooperative extension system, medical school, and farm community in partnership to provide an experiential approach to agricultural medicine and rural health education. CONCLUSION: The planning exercise and the field trips are successful examples of agromedicine, a partnership approach to preventive agricultural medicine involving professionals in medicine and in agriculture.