Preventing tractor-related injuries and deaths in rural populations: using a persuasive health message framework in formative evaluation research.

Though agriculture is the most dangerous occupation in the United States, two key issues impede the effectiveness of farm safety interventions. First, little is known about what farmers think about farm equipment accidents and safety procedures. Second, current safety interventions are typically atheoretical and focus on information exchange, instead of persuasion. Formative evaluation is desperately needed, but rarely used in farm safety campaigns. The study reported here represents a formative evaluation based on a theoretically-grounded persuasive health message framework. The goal of this formative evaluation was to discover farmers' safety practices, as well as their beliefs about farm equipment accidents and safety. Methodological triangulation was achieved by assessing farmers' beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors via face-to-face interviews (N = 46), telephone interviews (N = 48), and mailed surveys (N = 177). The formative evaluation revealed that farmers believe farm equipment accidents to be severe and dangerous, yet believe themselves to be invulnerable to these accidents.