ABOUT RESPIRAR
An innovative approach to understanding health outcomes
We are pushing the boundaries of research by implementing a multidisciplinary approach unpacking the mechanisms shaping and affecting the respiratory health of migrant and seasonal farmworkers.
The need: addressing gaps in farmworker protections
An estimated 2.5 million farmworkers are hired in the United States.
Previous research shows that housing for farmworkers across the United States is often overcrowded and limited in availability, quality, and amenities.
While disparities among farmworkers were apparent before COVID-19, the pandemic further exacerbated poor working and living conditions, contributing to the increased risk of transmission of infectious diseases and exposure to toxic pollutants.
The goal: to be better prepared moving forward
Until now, little analytical evidence exists comparing the effectiveness of interventions aimed at protecting farmworkers' health throughout the pandemic.
Our goal is to understand why and how farmworkers experienced disproportionately higher rates of COVID-19 compared to other workers and to discern the changes that would be most effective in combating the spread moving forward.
The RESPIRAR project seeks to understand the complexity of the agricultural labor system and its relation to worker health.
OUR WORK
OUR TEAM
Our VALUES
Inclusion
We intentionally incorporate and invite diverse perspectives and backgrounds throughout this project to ensure our findings tell the most complete and impartial story possible. Everyone from our research team, advisory board, community stakeholders, and study participants brings different viewpoints and life experiences, shaping the scope of our research.
Innovation
We are pushing the boundaries of research by implementing a multidisciplinary approach, acting as a platform for innovation. Our research is the first to combine environmental health science, public health, statistics, legal analysis, and community-based system dynamics to unpack the mechanisms shaping and affecting the health of vulnerable and essential farmworkers. Ultimately, our approach is grounded within the context of communities and lived experiences.
Justice
Our motives and inspiration for this work are guided by the belief that every worker deserves the right to fair pay, legal protection, and livable and safe housing and working conditions. We acknowledge that obstacles faced by workers based on race, nationality, and gender are historically derived and relevant today.
Objectivity
Remaining impartial throughout the scientific process guides our work and approach. We are implementing rigorous data collection methods and analysis to remain faithful to those facts.
Transparency
Sharing our research process and methodologies, goals, motives, and findings is essential to building trust among diverse stakeholders while improving the quality of our research.
Our PARTNERS
American University Department of Anthropology
Maryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health The Public Health Aerobiology Laboratory (PHAB Lab)
Washington University in St. Louis Social System Design Lab
El Comité de Apoyo a Los Trabajadores Agrícolas (the Farmworker Support Committee)
University of Maryland School of Public Health
Indiana University School of Public Health Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics
University of Maryland Baltimore Carey School of Law
