Review of Health Effects Research - Agriculture Forestry and Fishing Research at NIOSH - page 81

The AFF Program appears to have commenced with a somewhat narrow focus
in health effects research. Despite its stated goal, the AFF Program, particularly the
extramural component, came to encompass a wide array of exposures and their
effects that contribute to the risk of injury and illness in AFF workers. However,
it is possible that NIOSH, because of the discrepancy between the stated goal
and program inputs, failed to exert the kind of focused leadership that would
be necessary for a cohesive national research agenda. Production inputs reflect
the fact that many AFF researchers have understood that, but the AFF Program
would have benefited from stronger direction in evolving goals and greater com-
munication, both between the intramural and extramural components and among
the university-based NIOSH Ag Centers. The extramurally funded Ag Centers
routinely compiled detailed annual reports and generated specific planning docu-
ments, but it is difficult to ascertain evidence that the information was used in a
constructive manner. An apparent managerial deficiency of the program was the
lack of resources allocated by NIOSH to archive documentation and organize such
materials for strategic and planning purposes. In fact, one of the challenges that the
committee faced was obtaining program information and documentation from the
intramural AFF Program or extramural Ag Centers. The apparent lack of resources
and staff to adequately catalogue a history of funded projects and their products
has lead to an institutional memory deficit that is a major deficiency of the overall
AFF Program. Given the size of the task, addressing the needs of the entire AFF
worker population is difficult. The requirement for prudent allocation of resources
underscores the need for strong leadership.
LOGIC SUBMODEL
Information received from the NIOSH AFF Program (NIOSH, 2006a) related
to inputs, activities, outputs, intermediate outcomes, and end outcomes in health
effects research is summarized in the health effects research logic submodel (Fig-
ure 6-1).
INPUTS
Planning, production, and other input data were assessed and found to be ad-
equate in part; however, it was not clear that the data were gathered by NIOSH in
an organized manner. Staffing appears to have been adequate in some well-defined
subprograms, but resources in many other parts of the AFF Program did not ap-
pear to permit adequate staffing. Surveillance data were gathered by intramural and
extramural investigators; however, an overall surveillance scheme was not apparent
in the evidence. Stakeholder needs of various sectors were taken into consideration