Migrant Clinicians Network Announces New Project to Support Primary Care Response to Work-Related Health Injuries
SALISBURY, MD -- Migrant Clinicians Network (MCN) is pleased to initiate a one-year project supported by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) to improve primary care responses to work-related injuries.
“This project will allow us to better understand the barriers to addressing worker health in community health centers,” said Amy Liebman, MCN’s director of environmental and occupational health. Populations served by community health centers often work in occupations, like agriculture and construction, that have a high risk for injury. MCN has pulled together an expert advisory committee composed frontline clinicians, health center directors and experts in occupational health to provide guidance to MCN. The committee, along with MCN project leaders, will examine work-related health in primary care to determine what are the barriers to quality care, and how to remove those barriers. MCN’s project leaders will conduct site visits, interviews, and focus groups at community health centers, as well as quantitative research through a questionnaire with clinicians.
The findings from this project will allow for a clearer understanding of worker-related health in primary care. Upon completion of the research, the advisory committee will work with project leaders to craft recommendations to NIOSH on how primary care workers can improve service to patients with work-related injuries. It is anticipated NIOSH will use these findings to develop an informed outreach approach to better meet the needs of community health center staff.
ABOUT MCN
MCN works across the US and globally to provide support, technical assistance, and professional development to clinicians working on the frontlines of migration health. MCN’s Salisbury, Maryland office focuses on the unique environmental and occupational health conditions facing our migrant population as a result of their work.
CONTACT
For more information on this project, contact Juliana Simmons, MCN’s Environmental and Occupational Health Program Manager, at jsimmons@migrantclinician.org.