Community Partners for Health Farming (CPHF) Project / The Kentucky ROPS Project

Background

Program Goals:

To communicate positive attitudes and strategies for equipping tractors with roll-over protective structures (ROPS); assess the prevalence of ROPS-equipped tractors in Kentucky; implement  a community education program to promote ROPS; evaluate the quality of education materials and activities and their impact on farmers’ attitudes and behaviours with respect to ROPS; monitor the implementation of the program and ongoing sales of ROPS retrofits

Intent:

Unintentional injuries

Risk Factors Addressed:

Tractor injury, education re injury risk to second riders on tractors

Place of occurrence:

Farms

Age/Age Range:

Adult males

Resources

Year Developed:

1997

Collaborative Organization(s):

Operated under a department at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine and in the Kentucky School of Public Health
National partners and organizations included business corporations and the Farm Equipment Manufacturers Association 

Funding Resource(s):

Funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention through a national competitive 5-year grant
Community in-kind contributions over a 17-month period approximately $87,000

Implementation

Context/Setting

Farming community 

Strategies Used:

Education, Engineering, Enactment

Activities Used:

Multi-faceted in its approach to injury prevention
Over the course of the three years educational materials were developed, user tested and revised and compiled into the Kentucky Community Partners for Healthy Farming ROPS Project Notebook.

Program Evaluation:

Three-year project encompassing a quasi-experimental community trials study including control and intervention groups and random sampling. Evaluation of the impact and effectiveness of the program involved multiple methodologies and research studies including the tracking of changes and impacts on safety attitudes, knowledge and behaviour.

Source of Best Practice:

Volpe, R. & Lewko, J. (2004). Preventing Neurotrauma: A Casebook of Evidence-Based Practices. Ontario Neurotrauma Foundation.

Original Source:

Cole, H. P. (1997).  Stories to live by: A narrative approach to health-behavior research and injury prevention. In D. S Gochman (Ed.), Handbook of health behaviour research IV: Relevance for professionals and issues for the future. (pp.325-349) New York: Plenum.

Supplementary Material:

N/A

Local Example(s):

N/A

Contact Information: 

Professor Henry Cole
Principal Investigator
University of Kentucky
Southeast Center for Agricultural Health and Injury Prevention
College of Medicine, Department of Preventive Medicine and  Environmental Health
1141 Red Mile Road, Suite 102
Lexington, KY  40504-9842
Tel: 859-323-6836
Fax: 859-323-1038
Email: hcole@pop.uky.edu 

Outcomes

Long-term outcomes/Effectiveness:

Three years after program implementation, dealers in intervention counties had sold 81 ROPS to 79 farmers and SAF-T-Cab records showed 50 ROPS sales to equipment dealers in the two intervention counties and 10 to dealers in the two control counties (only 4 ROPS sold in the previous year)

Short-term outcomes:

80% of farmers who retrofitted tractors with ROPS reported being influenced by the project messages; notebook materials were considered user-friendly and stimulated interest related to tractor overturns and the role of ROPS in injury risk reduction and related economic losses.

 Other

Date of Review:

2004

Classification:

Best Practice