Something for everyone? A community and academic partnership to address farmworker pesticide exposure in North Carolina

Partnerships between academic researchers and community organizations are f requently formed to address environmental health concerns in underserved co mmunities. Although such participatory approaches to research combine valua ble assets of both partners, they are often difficult to maintain. We descr ibe a partnership formed to investigate migrant and seasonal farmworker exp osure to pesticides in North Carolina and to develop effective intervention s to reduce exposure. North Carolina ranks fifth in the United States in th e number of farmworkers; most are from Mexico, and a significant minority c ome to the United States on work contracts. Several barriers to establishin g effective collaboration were recognized in this partnership, including st ereotypes, cultural differences, competing demands for time and attention, and differences in orientation to power structures. To overcome these barri ers, members of the partnership took actions in three domains: clarifying t he different goals of each partner, operationalizing a model of participati on that could involve many different community segments developing cultural sensitivity. By taking these actions, the work of the partnership was acco mplished in ways that met the criteria for success of both academic researc hers and community members. This approach can be used by others to develop collaborative relationships to investigate environmental health issues with in a community-based participatory framework.