Review of Outreach Activities: Knowledge Diffusion and Technology Transfer - Agriculture Forestry and Fishing Research at NIOSH - page 125

EVALUATION
The AFF Program created a separate goal for its educational, knowledge diffu-
sion, and technology transfer activities, which has created a separation of research
from the dissemination functions. These dissemination activities would be inte-
grated in all of the research priorities. In discussing the ideal AFF research program
in Chapter 2, the committee recognized the needed role of research in knowledge
diffusion and technology transfer to reach the at-risk populations. However, the
separate goal continues to compartmentalize this outreach interaction as distinct
from the processes used to inform the research questions, methods, and analyses.
In part, this is a reflection of the logic model that guides the review. The concept
of broader deliberation and decisionmaking among researchers and populations-
at-risk from the inception of research ideas to their diffusion to the vulnerable
populations is not explored in depth.
Although there are substantial efforts to reach working populations, most
NIOSH materials were provided through Web sites or written materials. This
reflects a lack of understanding of the worker populations in agriculture. Some
researchers have addressed the need to modify messages for farming populations
(Grieshop et al., 1995; Cole, 2000, 2002; Morgan et al., 2002). The changing profile
of the working populations involved in agriculture, forestry, and fishing needs to
be taken into account in the development of programs designed to reach workers.
Immigrant workers clearly have different cultural views of safety and disease that
need to be assessed if culturally relevant information is to be provided. Farmers,
ranchers, fishermen, and loggers similarly have specialized cultural contexts related
to perceptions of risk and safety practices that influence adoption of new practices
(Morgan et al., 2002; Freeman et al., 2003; Helmkamp et al., 2004; Effland, 2005).
Incorporating representatives of target populations into the priority-setting pro-
cess and actual dissemination processes would increase the likelihood of successful
outreach and impacts.
Much of the legislation that addresses worker health and safety is not applicable
to farmers and ranchers, and many of the relevant regulations are not enforced
(Murphy, 1992; Cole, 2002). Therefore, the effectiveness of legislation in reaching
AFF working populations is questionable, yet legislation remains an important tool
in the diffusion and implementation of new knowledge and technologies.
Most education programs ignore the role of well-established habits in main-
taining behavior and preventing the adoption of new behaviors (Murphy, 1992;
Cole, 2002; Freeman et al., 2003). Failing to take habits and culture into account
limits the ability of programs to modify behavior so as to increase safety and im-
prove health. As noted above, multifaceted programs appear most successful and
provide a rationale for using social marketing techniques.
The recommendations in Chapter 12 will address these issues, especially the
need for an integrated model of NIOSH research and diffusion programs.