Designing an Agricultural Safety Intervention
Program for Ohio Amish Youth

Abstract

While the Amish population continues to grow because of the faith's high retention rate, the culture is underserved by many large-scale public health campaigns. Their choice of separation from public education and technology make it difficult, if not impossible, to reach them through traditional mass communication channels. This poses a challenge when designing safety education for Amish communities. Amish youth are exposed to home, farm, and occupational hazards at early ages; work is viewed as a privilege and an obligation to the family, community, and faith. The objectives of this outreach project were to identify, develop, and implement a safety program targeting Amish youth in order to mitigate the rural, agricultural, and occupational hazards to which they often are exposed. The overall success of implementing the program was based on social marketing that addressed the unique culture and the specific safety hazards that Amish children face daily. Through state collaborations and sponsored funding, a safety day camp model was introduced in two Ohio regions. Before program implementation, open-ended exploratory approaches were taken to identify common hazards faced by Amish youth. Focus groups with Amish leaders and parents allowed for deeper inquiry of youth safety practices. Questionnaires distributed to Amish youth (n=217) and parents (n=38) confirmed similar findings about youth exposures to agricultural hazards. A curriculum was developed, implemented, and evaluated in the pilot counties. Programmers were able to effectively target an underserved population with appropriate safety messages. Furthermore, the Amish population perceived the program as relevant and important for their youth.