Strong MF, Maralani VJ. Farmworkers and Disability: Results of a National Survey. Oakland, CA: Berkeley Planning Associates; 1998.
The authors note that farm work is generally recognized to be the second most dangerous occupation after mining. Supported by a grant from the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, Berkeley Planning Associates, and the National Center for Farmworker Health conducted a survey of adult farmworkers with disabilities and disabled children in farmworker families in six states (California, Washington, Texas, Colorado, Florida, and North Carolina). Adults were included if they had disabilities and had done farm work within the previous five years. Disability was determined with a functional definition, using a screening question asking if they had changed the amount or type of farm work they had done due to a disability or chronic health condition. Children were also included in the study; the authors note that children as young as age 10 can legally do farm work. Without targeting, the sample was uniformly Latino. The vast majority (79 percent) of the adults had authorization to work in the United States.
Although not the explicit intent of the study, the data indicated that 65 percent of the adults attributed their disabilities to the farm work they had done. The average age of onset of the primary disability was 32 years. About one-quarter (22 percent) reported a back condition as their primary disability. The second-largest primary disability category was other musculoskeletal conditions, including injuries to joints, carpal tunnel problems, or paralysis of limbs. Almost two-thirds (63 percent) of the adults reported more than one disabling condition, and almost everyone (92 percent) reported their physical health as "poor" or "fair." For children, more than half (56 percent) of them were disabled as a result of congenital conditions. Almost one-quarter (24 percent) of the children reported developmental delays as their primary disability. The report found that, unlike what is often assumed, when farmworkers become disabled, they do not typically return to their home countries. The report also described the sort of services that these disabled adults and children used and whether they were satisfied with them.
 |
 |
 |