Promoting Workplace Health, Safety, and Well-Being Among Essential Agricultural Workers Through Vaccine-Preventable...

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Occupational Health
• Health Education

Background:

• Infectious disease awareness and education gaps were highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic, worsened by misinformation.
• Effective health, safety, and well-being training is crucial for mitigating occupational exposures.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop, deliver, and evaluate vaccine-preventable infectious diseases training for farmworkers and bodega workers.
• To assess the effectiveness of mobile-learning technologies in delivering health education to agricultural workers.

Main Methods:

• A cohort of 1,043 farmworkers, bodega workers, and management received mobile-learning training on infectious diseases (influenza, hepatitis A/B, tetanus, COVID-19).
• The Kirkpatrick Four-Level Training Evaluation Model was used to assess satisfaction, learning, and behavioral impact.
• Knowledge was measured using pre- and post-training tests.

Main Results:

• Mean pre-test scores were 67.8%, increasing to 77.2% post-training, a statistically significant improvement (p < .05).
• A medium learning effect size (0.53) was observed, indicating successful knowledge acquisition.
• Mobile learning proved effective for delivering health awareness training in challenging work environments.

Conclusions:

• Mobile learning is a successful strategy for delivering health and safety training to agricultural workers in remote areas.
• There is a critical need for offline-capable software to ensure equitable access to training for all workers.
• Tailored approaches are necessary, as there is no single solution for training diverse agricultural workforces.