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University of Florida researchers are studying whether pain self-management and ergonomic changes can help nursery and landscape workers address back pain. Preliminary findings point to improvements in pain and the difficulty of work tasks, but the source does not provide detailed results or a completed evaluation.
The project is being conducted by scientists with the Southeastern Coastal Center for Agricultural Health and Safety, including faculty from UF’s College of Public Health and Health Professions and its Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences. Its stated aim is to assess whether workers’ pain-management practices and workplace modifications are effective in the horticulture industry.
In the first phase, researchers spoke with nursery and landscape industry stakeholders, including workers, supervisors and insurance consultants. Participants reported that workers often keep working through back pain. Workers described jobs involving long periods of lifting heavy plants, carrying materials, digging and working in bent or awkward positions.
Dunleavy said early interviews also highlighted seasonal and weather-related changes in workload, which can make it harder to apply one-size-fits-all solutions. Participants called for greater workplace awareness of pain and more guidance on injury prevention, while indicating that useful changes need not require major shifts in work practices.
Back Pain Affects Work and Retention
Back pain can affect workers whose jobs depend on physical strength and mobility, while employers may face reduced productivity, injury costs and the loss of experienced staff. The project examines whether relatively practical adjustments could help workers do their jobs with less pain and difficulty.
Dunleavy also raised concern about workers relying on medication to manage pain. She said options can include opioids, muscle relaxers and over-the-counter pain relievers, which may carry negative health effects. The source does not report how commonly workers use these medicines or measure medication use as an outcome of the study.
Because horticulture work changes with season and weather, strategies would need to fit the tasks and conditions workers face. The study’s focus on input from both employees and industry representatives reflects that practical constraint.
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What Workers Told Researchers
The study’s first phase gathered perspectives from people connected to nursery and landscape work. Workers described repeated lifting, carrying, digging and awkward postures; stakeholders said workers may continue despite pain because it is treated as a routine part of the job.
According to the report, participants saw value in prevention and in options that could help employees continue working while reducing pain. They also identified limited formal injury-prevention training and a need for more workplace guidance. The study is intended to test approaches tailored to this industry rather than assume that strategies from other settings will fit its variable workloads.
““Not only is back pain debilitating for workers who rely on their bodies for income, reduced productivity, losing experienced workers, and overall costs for injury have major consequences for companies.””
— Kim Dunleavy, clinical professor in UF’s Department of Physical Therapy and lead researcher
Details on Results Remain Limited
The source describes the results as preliminary and reports improvements in pain and work-task difficulty, but it does not give participant numbers, the size of those changes, measurement methods or a comparison group. It also does not specify the interventions tested, the study’s duration, or when full results will be available.
The report does not establish that the approaches caused the reported improvements or that the findings apply across the horticulture workforce. More information is needed to assess how effective the strategies are and whether their benefits last.
Further Study Findings Expected
Researchers are continuing to assess self-management and ergonomic approaches for back pain in horticulture work. The next useful update would provide methods and fuller results, including who took part, which interventions were used and how outcomes were measured.
The source directs readers to a related University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences article for additional information. It gives no date for a final report or for publication of further findings.
Key Questions
What is the University of Florida study investigating?
It is examining whether pain self-management and ergonomic modifications can help nursery and landscape workers address back pain.
What did the preliminary findings show?
Lead researcher Kim Dunleavy said there were improvements in pain and work-task difficulty. Detailed figures and methods were not provided in the source report.
What tasks did workers identify as physically demanding?
Workers described lifting heavy plants, carrying materials, digging and working in bent or awkward positions.
When will full results be published?
The source does not give a date for full results or specify when the study will be completed.
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