The Health Care for the Homeless (HCH) Clinicians’ Network and Migrant Clinicians Network (MCN) serve as National Partners to the HRSA Health Disparities Collaboratives. One of the critical roles for both organizations is helping health centers identify their migrant and homeless patients. Both organizations share a commitment to the principal that mobility should not be a barrier for health care access or continuity of care. What follows is a set of succinct and helpful suggestions for how to better identify homeless and migrant patients in your practice.

Our June topic is IIS or Immunzaion Registries. Between August and October of 2008, immunization initiative staff at MCN conducted structured interviews with all State Immunization Coordinators or their designated contact persons in an effort to identify state programs that address the immunization needs. In response to the question “does your state have an electronic immunization registry?” we found that 42 states have registries, six states are in the process of implementing them, and two states do not have registries. Out of 42 states with registries, 37 are in both public and private settings and 31 are “birth to death” registries, including both children and adults. To view report, go to: http://www.migrantclinician.org/toolsource/resource/interviews-state-programs-addressing-immunization-needs.html

We offer three articles that discuss the progress of using immunization registries to improve recording and access of immunization data. Click on the links below to access the full articles.

An expert panel review of the scientific literature on lead and health - Environmental Health Perspective, March 2007

Variations in BCG vaccination practices impact the interpretation of TB diagnostics, such as the widely used Tuberculin Skin Test (TST). The World Atlas of BCG Policies and Practices will help clinicians in your country and around the world make better diagnostic decisions concerning TB infection.

The Toolkit is a combination of easy-to-use reference guides for health providers and user friendly health education materials on preventing exposures to toxic chemicals and other substances that affect infant and child health.

FIOB has a good presentation that they use to teach the general community about indigenous cultures. This PowerPoint could be used to teach staff about indigenous languages.

The CDI is an organization that was created in 2003 to ensure that indigenous communities and people in Mexico have the rights guaranteed to them by the Mexican Constitution. It collaborates with state governments and federal dependencies to evaluate current strategies and works to form new programs that will ensure equality and fight against indigenous discrimination. It also works to help indigenous peoples to improve their quality of life. Their website includes a number of resources on indigenous areas of Mexico including news stories (some of which are written in an indigenous language), music, and research information on the indigenous populations. There is also a section of basic information on the indigenous languages of Mexico.

The Oaxacan Indigenous Binational Front (FIOB) is a non-profit organization based in California. It is a coalition of indigenous organizations, communities, and individuals from Oaxaca, Baja California and in the State of California. This organization works to empower the indigenous peoples of Oaxaca and make sure that human rights are upheld for these communities in both Mexico and the United States.

The Native Literacy Center in Oaxaca, Mexico was founded by a group of professionals and native educators from Oaxaca to support literacy projects for indigenous peoples.  This center is involved with preservation, helping indigenous peoples to write their languages, print and publish individual works, write their histories, and record their knowledge for future generations.  People come from Central and South America to this Center, where they learn how to produce their own works.  The center also works with education, teaching indigenous peoples how to write their languages so that they are able to produce their own works. 

1.  Online dicitionary in a variety of languages available under the "Foreign Language Aides for Latin America and Iberia" section, including Mixteco, Nahuatl, and Zapoteco.  http://www.oberlin.edu/faculty/svolk/latinam.htm
2.  Mixtec-Spanish Online Dictionary   http://aulex.ohui.net/es-mix/?idioma=en                 
3.  Mixtec dictionary created by the SIL:  http://www.sil.org/mexico/mixteca/00i-mixteca.htm
4.  Mam-Spanish Dictionary    http://www.cscd.osakau.ac.jp/user/rosaldo/Mam_Esp_DICC_COM.html

Western NC Workers Center:  Located in Morganton, North Carolina, the Western NC Workers Center is a non-profit group of community organizers.  This organization currently has a number of outreach and education projects which work to uphold the rights of immigrant and low wage employees in Western North Carolina.  They also work with high levels of Guatemalan immigrants who speak indigenous languages.  One of their projects designed to reach indigenous language speakers is their Promotora Education project, which uses scenario picture books without words to educate low literacy populations about health and work safety. 

Contact:

Francisco Risso                                                                                                                (828) 432-5080                                                                                                             fjrisso@hotmail.com