Retrospective Assessment of Human-Chemical Interactions in Health-Disparity Populations: A Process Evaluation of Life History Calendars.

Life-history calendars (LHCs) can produce retrospective data regarding numerous events, exposures, and sequences that have occurred across participants' lifespans. In this mixed-quantitative-and-qualitative-methods study, processes of LHC administration were evaluated in two populations experiencing health disparities: foreign-born agricultural workers (n = 41) and Indigenous people who used injection drugs (IPWIDS) (n = 40). LHC administrator and participant perspectives were elicited during follow-up survey activities. In both agricultural workers and IPWIDs, over half of participants reported that the LHC made it easier to remember things about the past, and participant age was associated with cumulative experience in different domains of interest. Qualitative findings suggested that data-collector training and the development of concise interview guides are critical for improving LHC data quality. Participants described ethical themes, including utilitarian, cathartic, and reflective aspects, of LHC participation. Future iterations of the LHC may benefit from providing free-form and open-ended spaces for participants to reflect on the LHC activity following LHC administration.

Soft Wireless Bioelectronics Designed for Real-Time, Continuous Health Monitoring of Farmworkers.

Hotter summers caused by global warming and increased workload and duration are endangering the health of farmworkers, a high-risk population for heat-related illness (HRI), and deaths. Although prior studies using wearable sensors show the feasibility of employing field-collected data for HRI monitoring, existing devices still have limitations, such as data loss from motion artifacts, device discomfort from rigid electronics, difficulties with administering ingestible sensors, and low temporal resolution. Here, this paper introduces a wireless, wearable bioelectronic system with functionalities for continuous monitoring of skin temperature, electrocardiograms (ECG), heart rates (HR), and activities, configured in a single integrated package. Advanced nanomanufacturing based on laser machining allows rapid device fabrication and direct incorporation of sensors with a highly breathable substrate, allowing for managing excessive sweating and multimodal stresses. To validate the device's performance in agricultural settings, the device is applied to multiple farmworkers at various operations, including fernery, nursery, and crop. The accurate data recording, including high-fidelity ECG (signal-to-noise ratio: >20 dB), accurate HR (r = 0.89, r2 = 0.65 in linear correlation), and reliable temperature/activity, confirms the device's capability for multiparameter health monitoring of farmworkers.