Economics of Preventing Injuries to Adolescent and Adult Farmers

Led by Dr. Joan Mazur of the University of Kentucky College of Education and Dr. Henry P. Cole of the UK College of Public Health, the Economics of Preventing Injuries to Adolescent and Adult Farmers is a four-year, multi-state project targeting four types of injury events that are prevalent among adolescents and adults who live and/or work on farms:

  1. crush injuries to operators when tractors without rollover protective structures (ROPS) overturn,
  2. deadly collisions between farm tractors and other motor vehicles on public roadways,
  3. traumatic brain injuries to horseback and ATV riders without helmets, and
  4. hearing loss to individuals with long-term exposure to high frequencies and loud noises.

To promote more effective safety and health education among agricultural stakeholders and to reduce rates of preventable injury and death through increased use of protective equipment and other risk/hazard reduction behaviors, this project is testing and evaluating the online delivery in college classrooms of (1) a program of interactive instructional materials that simulate a typical case scenario for each of these injury categories across the pre-event, event, and post-event stages, and (2) an interactive Excel™-based cost tool program that calculates the costs of each injury and the cost-effectiveness of its prevention.

Paper forms of the incident simulations and a CD version of the cost tool were evaluated in four rural high schools and found to be appropriate for inclusion within the practical living and economics curriculum content of social studies and vocational agriculture classes. The materials were also found to be effective for engaging students, teachers, and parents in addressing the economics of injury events and the cost-effectiveness of their prevention. (See Preventing Farm Injuries to Rural Youth). The materials engage participants in thinking critically about three key questions: (1) Who in the community is at risk of these types of injuries? (2) What are the costs of these injuries and who bears these costs? (3) In what ways can these injuries be prevented, and why is it cost effective to do so?

The new study is using online versions of the simulations and cost tools within college courses for post-secondary students who are preparing for careers as high school social studies and vocational agriculture teachers and as agricultural Extension agents. It is anticipated that upon graduation, these professionals will use the online program with hundreds of youths and adults enrolled in their respective educational programs.

This project is supported by CDC/NIOSH Cooperative Agreement U50 OH007547.

For more information contact the Principal Investigator: Joan M. Mazur, PhD Associate Professor Curriculum and Instructional Design University of Kentucky College of Education 345 Dickey Hall Lexington, KY 40506-0017 859-257-4896