When a young Latino patient enters your exam room at your rural clinic, do you initiate a conversation on workplace safety?

Most clinicians would likely answer, ‘no’, as is noted in a new Journal of Agromedicine article, co-authored by Amy K. Liebman, MPA, MA, Director of Environmental and Occupational Health at Migrant Clinicians Network. The article also details the dangers of agricultural work for young Latinos; agriculture is one of the most hazardous industries, and regulations for children working in agriculture are fewer than in other industries.

To facilitate that important conversation between young Latino agricultural workers and their clinicians, MCN established an interactive bilingual tool, with a small grant from the National Children’s Center. This Rapid Clinical Assessment Tool (RCAT) was then evaluated in its use with 140 young, primarily Latino-American farmworkers, 14 to 18 years old in Washington State. 

Few of the participants (15 percent) reported clinician-initiated conversations on occupational health. A high proportion (77 percent) felt the RCAT made it easier to communicate with health professionals about work hazards. The study also highlights the need for workplace health and safety guidance for young workers  employed in agriculture. 

The interactive tool featured in the article is available here on the MCN website. PDFs of the tool are also available for printing, for use in the fields.