The Ideal Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing Research Program - Agriculture Forestry and Fishing Research at NIOSH - page 26

distributions would be characterized. The ideal AFF Program would develop con-
venient and effective clinical methods for detecting and characterizing exposures
and disease in the populations at risk. Tests would be economical, noninvasive,
field-ready, and reliable. Exposure assessment algorithms would be developed for
use in retrospective epidemiological studies and prospective studies. Ideally, expo-
sure assessment would be a continuous part of prospective cohort studies. Where
resources limit the establishment of large cohorts, exposure assessment activity on
a smaller scale would form the basis of algorithms for use in quantifying exposure
in epidemiological studies. Challenges include financial resources, technical ex-
pertise and limitations in available technology, the variability of exposures among
the different AFF occupations, and the extreme diversity of chemical, physical, and
biological agents to which workers are exposed. The ideal AFF Program would take
into consideration the complex mixtures of chemicals and environmental factors
to which workers are routinely exposed.
Intervention Research
Intervention research has been described as the study of planned and applied
activities designed to achieve desired outcomes (Goldenhar and Schulte, 1994), and
focuses on the examination of the efficacy of new and existing prevention strate-
gies in the workplace (Rosenstock, 1996). In explaining a commitment to increase
extramural and intramural support in 1996, NIOSH Director Linda Rosenstock
stated that it was important for NIOSH to use intervention research more ag-
gressively to provide a mechanism of evaluation that goes beyond investigation,
identification, and recommendations (Rosenstock, 1996). Given the focus on inter-
vention research and the development of guideline documents for evaluating the
effectiveness of interventions (see Figure 2-1) (Goldenhar et al., 2001; Robson et al.,
2001), it is appropriate to consider an ideal or benchmark intervention research
program in describing the ideal AFF program.
The ideal or benchmark intervention research program would have the fol-
lowing characteristics:
• A comprehensive surveillance program to ensure that the incidence of
acute and chronic illness and injury, relevant exposures and risk factors, and the
affected populations can be fully characterized.
• Funding, facilitation, and promotion of intervention research that focuses
on the highest-priority populations and problems (identified through surveillance)
and that is conducted according to established and accepted theory and frameworks
related to development, implementation, and evaluation.