Interventions in high-risk occupational cohorts: a cross-sectional demonstration project

In 1980, the Workers' Institute for Safety and Health began a demonstration project designed to develop a model program of community-based intervention in three cohorts with different workplace exposures and target cancer sites. Program components included identification, notification, medical surveillance, education, social support services (eg, psychosocial, legal, financial, etc), and evaluation. The three cohorts included the Augusta cohort, a group at risk for bladder cancer due to workplace exposure to beta-naphthylamine; the Port Allegany cohort, a group at high risk of cancer associated with a workplace exposure to asbestos; and the Pattern Makers cohort, a group shown to be at increased risk of colorectal cancer. Together, these three projects give a cross-sectional view of possible approaches to educational and medical intervention strategies in diverse situations.