Evaluation Challenges in Agricultural Health and Safety Centers

Abstract

Evaluation challenges in NIOSH-funded agricultural health and safety centersinclude those related to the current state of development of agricultural health andsafety as a public health arena, those inherent in multi-site evaluation of diverse centers,and those related to evaluation itself. Challenges posed by the current state ofdevelopment of the agricultural health and safety field include lack of establishedmarkers and measures for health and safety problems. The multi-site nature of centers,the tasks of which include interdisciplinary research, education, and intervention, isanother source of difficulties. Challenges related to evaluation itself include lack ofevaluation resources, both human and financial. This article makes three suggestions foradvancing evaluation in agricultural health and safety centers: the adaptation ofevaluation to the agricultural health and safety arena; evaluation capacity-building inthe centers; and the development of national evaluation standards.