Building coalitions: a community wide approach for promoting farming health and safety

1. The context of agriculture in the Midwest, given many smaller, family run operations, presents multiple and complex challenges; occupational health intervention strategies used in other industries are not immediately applicable. 2. Public health nurses in Minnesota's Occupational Health Nurses in Agricultural Communities project (OHNAC) are applying the strategies of community wide health promotion through community organizing for farm health and safety promotion. 3. The theoretical basis for community wide health promotion encompasses theory from several disciplines, and a five stage model for community organization in health promotion has been developed and tested. 4. At the root of tis approach to farm safety is the effort to change long held beliefs and community norms, especially the belief that farm injuries and fatalities are a necessary part of agricultural work.