Work and Health Among Latina Mothers in Farmworker Families

Abstract

Background Work organization is important for the health of vulnerable workers, particularly women. This analysis describes work organization for Latinas in farmworker families and delineates the associations of work organization with health indicators. Methods 220 Latino women in farmworker families completed interviews from October 2012 - July 2013. Interviews addressed job structure, job demand, job control, and job support. Health measures included stress, depressive symptoms, physical activity, family conflict, and family economic security. Results Three-fifths of the women were employed. Several work organization dimensions, including shift, psychological demand, work safety climate, and benefits, were associated with participant health as expected, based on the work organization and job demands-control-support models. Conclusions Research should address women's health and specific work responsibilities. Occupational safety policy must consider the importance of work organization in the health of vulnerable workers.

Mental health among Latina farmworkers and other employed Latinas in North Carolina.

“…Employed Latinas, whether farmworkers or working in other manual occupations, have higher average stress and anxiety scores than do unemployed Latinas. Stress among the Latina farmworkers and employed non-farmworkers is similar to that reported for women in farmworker families, one-third of who were not employed (Arcury et al 2015a). Stress among these employed women is considerably greater than that reported among male Latino farmworkers with H2-A visas (Arcury et al, 2015b).…”

Examining Agricultural Workplace Micro and Macroclimate Data Using Decision Tree Analysis to Determine Heat Illness Risk

“…In fact agricultural workers experience heat-related deaths at an annual rate that is 20 times that of the U.S. civilian workforce (2). Beyond experiencing adverse environmental conditions at their workplace, agricultural workers experience a high level of vulnerability due to socioeconomic disparities including decreased access to healthcare, separation from their families, low income, crowded housing often in poor condition, and little control over their work environments (3)(4)(5)(6)(7). While the threats of HRI in this population are well-recognized there have been few studies that actually capture the heat conditions of the worksite, nor have researchers assessed the validity to which environmental monitoring station reflect the temperatures at the worksite.…”

Anticipatory Guidance about Child Diet and Physical Activity for Latino Farmworker Mothers

“…Unlike earlier studies, 7 most mothers reported having had interpreters or providers who spoke their language. Parents struggle to take children to well-child care when many (61%) of these mothers work, but do not have paid sick leave (6.8%) or health insurance (7.6%); 28 few have spouses with paid sick leave or health insurance. 1 …”