Publications by authors named "Julie Sorensen"

This brief highlights the development and administration of Lifejackets for Lobstermen and its successor, Lifejackets for Fishermen. These programs provide education about, physical access to, and monetary incentives for personal floatation devices (PFDs). Preliminary data shows that commercial fishermen in New England have increased their PFD wear rates significantly since the launch of these programs in 2019.

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For many years, the International Fishing Industry Safety and Health Conference (IFISH) has focused on highlighting research, training and advocacy work and fostering collaboration among stakeholders to foster a healthier, safer seafood industry. While prior conferences have included many opportunities for trans-disciplinary discussions and problem-solving, the IFISH Planning Committee has been exploring the option of developing a platform for collaboration and information exchange in between events, which only happen every few years. At the IFISH 6 Conference, held at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in Rome, participants were invited to attend the post-conference workshop, which was held on the final day of the conference.

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The IFISH6 conference brought together researchers and practitioners from around the world to discuss innovations and progress in protecting the safety and health of workers in the fishing, aquaculture, and seafood processing industries. This brief provides an overview of the feedback that was received about this conference, ideas for enhancing the impact of IFISH7, and methods of continuing collaboration and innovation in between.

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Agriculture is one of the most dangerous industries in the United States. Loss of life, injury, and illness estimates in the agriculture industry only measure a fraction of the total burden to society. The purpose of this review was to conduct a comprehensive scan of the peer-reviewed literature to catalog research that explores the burden of agricultural injury to synthesize what is currently known.

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Injury and fatality events that are caused by tree work and tractor-related activities contribute to the already elevated rates of work-related injuries in the agriculture and logging sectors. This brief report highlights the circumstances surrounding these events, as well as a number of surveillance sources that identify the extent to which they contribute to the injury burden in these hazardous industries. These data sources include fatality investigations, agricultural injury news reports, consumer product injury data captured from emergency rooms and near-miss reporting data captured from individuals participating in the National Rollover Protective Structure Rebate Program (NRRP).

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Introduction: Rollover protective structures (ROPS) can prevent fatal tractor overturns, a leading cause of death among farmers. This content analysis aims to understand how this life-saving strategy appears in news about farm safety.

Methods: As part of a larger study of farm safety news coverage from four agricultural states, we conducted a content analysis of articles that mentioned ROPS.

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In March of 2020, with the full magnitude of the COVID-19 pandemic yet to be seen, Costa and Martin released a report through the Economic Policy Institute noting that "To prevent infections and the spread of COVID-19 on farms, farm employers should be planning and implementing safety measures to protect their employees" (Costa D, Martin P, Coronavirus and farmworkers: farm employment, safety issues, and the H-2A guestworker program, Economic Policy Institute, https://www.epi.org/publication/coronavirus-and-farmworkers-h-2a/, 2020).

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Objective: The Northeast Center for Occupational Health and Safety conducted a survey in December 2020 to understand the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and the Androscoggin Mill explosion among loggers in six states: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.

Methods: Logger mailing addresses were aggregated with the assistance of state logging organizations. A paper survey, including a self-addressed return envelope was mailed to the loggers in December 2020.

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The United States' fishing and seafood industries experienced major shifts in consumer demand and social-distancing restrictions starting in March 2020, when the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic were unfolding. However, the specific effects on fishers and seafood processors are less well known. Fishermen and seafood workers are potentially at risk during a pandemic given existing tight working quarters, seasonal work, and long hours.

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As part of our evaluation of the NIOSH-funded Northeast Center for Occupational Health and Safety: Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing (NEC), we present methodology, findings and the potential implications of a sequential social network analysis (SNA) conducted over ten years. Assessing the effectiveness of the center's scientific projects was our overarching evaluation goal. The evaluation design employed SNA to (a) look at changes to the center's network over time by visualizing relationships between center collaborators annually, (b) document collaborative ties and (c) identify particularly strong or weak areas of the network.

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Highlights: This article describes a cost assessment of a PTO driveline shielding intervention. Considerations for effective occupational safety interventions beyond reductions in injuries or fatalities are described. The financial viability of combining various on-farm services to reduce intervention costs is discussed.

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On farms, power take-off (PTO) drivelines pose serious risks in terms of both fatal and non-fatal injuries. PTO shielding can prevent such injuries; however, is often underutilized by the farm population. This study aims assesses seven influence campaigns and their ability to change attitudes toward PTO shielding in order to encourage sustainable behavior change.

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The occupational injury rate of the dairy industry (6.6 per 100 full-time workers) is twice that of the national average across all industries (3.3 per 100 full-time workers).

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This commentary provides an overview of the impact of COVID-19 on the commercial fishing industry. The information highlighted in the article was gathered from fishermen, fishing industry experts, health and safety advisors, and advocates. From these first-hand accounts, we provide the immediate and expansive impacts of COVID-19 on fishermen's health and wellbeing.

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Falls account for the highest proportion of preventable injury among older adults. Thus, the United States' Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) developed the Stopping Elderly Accidents, Deaths, and Injuries (STEADI) algorithm to screen for fall risk. We referred to our STEADI algorithm adaptation as "Quick-STEADI" and compared the predictive abilities of the three-level (low, moderate, and high risk) and two-level (at-risk and not at-risk) Quick-STEADI algorithms.

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: Kelman's Processes of Change suggest that individuals participate in behaviors for one of three reasons: because it is required (compliance), because the behavior allows them to maintain a particular social status (identification), or because the behavior aligns with the individuals core beliefs (internalization). This study aims to assess the utility of this model in understanding farmers' attitudes and behaviors regarding power take-off (PTO) shielding to prevent entanglements.: Surveys collected data on 673 farmers' attitudes and behaviors related to PTO shielding in 14 highly agricultural counties of New York.

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Background And Objectives: Extending the Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) model into the community may address the poor linkage between medical clinics and underserved communities. Our first of three objectives was to determine if peer leaders and wellness coaches can be the relationship center of wellness care. We evaluated the Self-management Resource Center Small Group Programs (SMRCSGP), plus wellness coaching, as a booster intervention in older adults with chronic diseases.

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Objective: The alliance influences outcomes in CBT for youth anxiety disorders. Thus, knowledge about how therapists can enhance the alliance is needed.

Method: Seventy-three youth with anxiety diagnoses ( age = 11.

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Background: Media advocacy plays an important role in public health initiatives, as it can provide vital information to target populations, policy makers, or other relevant stakeholders. Unfortunately, little is currently known about the use of media advocacy to promote occupational safety and health programs. This study explores media coverage related to the Rollover Protection Structure (ROPS) Rebate Programs, which were designed to encourage the use of rollover protection on agricultural tractors, thus reducing the risk of tractor overturn fatalities.

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: Mental health challenges on farms, especially dairies, are increasing. A Future Search workshop was held in December 2018 to develop collaborative strategies for addressing this issue. This brief report outlines the methods used at this workshop and its outcomes.

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Introduction: The incidence of chronic disease and treatment costs have been steadily increasing in the United States over the past few decades. Primary prevention and healthy lifestyle counseling have been identified as important strategies for reducing health-care costs and chronic disease prevalence. This article seeks to examine decision-makers' experiences and self-perceived roles in guideline and lifestyle counseling implementation in a primary care setting in the United States.

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Objectives On US farms, tractor overturns are the leading cause of death; however, these fatalities are preventable with the use of a rollover protection structure (ROPS). A ROPS rebate program was established in New York in 2006 to address these fatalities. Due to its success, the program expanded to six additional states before being implemented as the National ROPS Rebate Program (NRRP) in 2017.

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This study sought to evaluate A Matter of Balance/Volunteer Lay Leaders (AMOB/VLL) fall prevention curriculum in combination with a "door-through-door" program: Coordinated Older-Adult Senior Transportation Services (COASTS) for older adults living in an urban, underserved community. AMOB/VLL participants were offered eight 2-hour classes as part of the training program. Focus groups were conducted with older adult participants, COASTS mobility facilitators, and AMOB/VLL master trainers.

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