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Introduction

In August of 2005, the North Carolina Division of Public Health, Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology Branch (OEEB) was notified that three women who had worked on farms in North Carolina owned by Ag-Mart had delivered infants with birth defects.  All three births took place in Florida where the women also worked on Ag-Mart farms and lived near each other.  This report summarizes the OEEB’s investigation and assessment of the pesticide exposures likely experienced by these women while in North Carolina. 

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The Occupational Health and Safety Resource Center is a virtual repository of Spanish educational materials, data sources, and links to bilingual informational websites on occupational health and safety issues related to agricultural work. It also contains an ample list of national and state agencies that have produced materials in Spanish for farmworkers’ health-related problems.

MCNs own Deliana Garcia helped in being a part of the advisory committee to this resource center.

What is the objective?  To facilitate a central access point to high quality Spanish educational materials on agricultural occupational health and safety issues for people conducting work on health promotion and prevention activities and on workers’ rights and problems related to agricultural work.

Who are the target audiences? Health-outreach workers (promotores), community advocates, health providers, contractors/employers, farmworkers and their families, and others interested in the health and safety issues of agricultural workers.

What areas are included? The materials cover five key relevant areas: 1) Farmworkers’ rights; 2) Injury prevention; 3) Respiratory illnesses; 4) Heat illnesses; and 5) Pesticide exposure.

How did we do it? To develop the Virtual Resource Center, the process entailed:

  • Asset mapping of educational, informational and research materials available in Spanish related to the five mentioned areas.
  • Selection of materials using the following criteria: accurate information, culturally and linguistically adequate (including literacy level), relevant to health area, and visually acceptable quality.
  • Insertion of resources into an excel format under five different categories, including source, type of material, and description of its content.

Development of new materials: to complement the existing educational resources, we developed a “Promotores Training Manual on Occupational Health and Safety of Agricultural Workers”.  Based on an ethnographic framework, the manual presents the perspective of agricultural workers on the five mentioned areas (their stories) and provides community health workers with tools on how to conduct prevention and promotion activities. It also refers them to existing resources.  We also produced a series of Spanish and selected indigenous languages Public Service Announcements (PSAs) on these areas.

An informative blog about workers' compensation, risk management, business insurance, workplace health & safety, occupational medicine, injured workers, and related topics.

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This webinar is the fifth in a series of seven in our Clinician Orienatation to Migration Health.

DATE RECORDED: Wednesday, June 12th, 2013
PRESENTED BY: Dr. Jennie McLaurin, MD, MPH, Specialist in Child and Migrant Health, Migrant Clinicians Network

To view the recorded version of this webinar, click here.

Much of the medical home model is predicated on a relatively stable population that can access regular care at a single network of providers.  So how can this model effectively transfer to a mobile population?  One of the key elements needed is a more expansive vision of a medical home beyond a single geographic location.  This session will explore strategies to create a patient centered medical home for patients on the move.  The session will include an update and overview of MCN’s Health Network to manage critical health care issues such as infectious disease, Cancer, Diabetes and Pre-natal patient navigations.  Participants will also be engaged in a discussion around best practices in tracking outcomes and reporting test results to patients.  Presenters will highlight innovative promising practices in the creation of patient centered medical homes for migrant patients.

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The Diabetes and Healthy Eyes Toolkit provides community health workers with tools to inform people with diabetes about diabetic eye disease and maintaining healthy vision. The toolkit has a flipchart that is easy to use in community settings and can be incorporated into existing diabetes classes or information sessions. It is available in English andSpanish.

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This website and training material were developed to give communities and promotores ways to help farm workers learn how to protect themselves from pesticide exposure.

The project and all materials on the website were developed by the California Poison Control System in collaboration with the the Western Center for Agricultural Health and Safety at the University of California, Davis and the California Department of Pesticide Regulation.

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Part 4 of 7 webinars in the CLINICIAN ORIENTATION TO MIGRATION HEALTH series.

DATE RECORDED: May 15, 2013

PRESENTERS: Amy K. Leibman, MPA, MA, Director of Environmental and Occupational Health, Migrant Clinicians Network

Dr. Mike Rowland, MD, MPH, Vice President, Medical Affairs and Medical Director, Occupational Health, Franklin Memorial Hospital

OBJECTIVES:

  • Recognize the unique health risks of migrants due to their working conditions and environment
  • Identify promising practices in environmental and occupational health that are feasible to implement in Migrant and Community Health Centers
  • Utilize online clinical and patient education tools and resources to recognize, prevent and manage environmental and occupaional illnesses and injuries
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This webinar is the third in a series of seven in our Clinician Orienatation to Migration Health.

DATE RECORDED: Wednesday, April 17, 2013
PRESENTED BY: Edward Zuroweste, MD, Chief Medical Officer, Migrant Clinicians Network

To view the recorded version of this webinar, click here.

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This webinar is the second in a series of seven in our Clinician Orientation to Migration Health.

DATE RECORDED: Wednesday, March 13, 2013
PRESENTED BY: Jennie McLaurin, MD, MPH, Specialist in Child and Migrant Health, Migrant Clinicians Network

To view the recorded version of this webinar, click here.

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This short article in an issue of JAMA addresses the issue of clinicians who are not fluent in the language of their patients working without an interpreter. It provides a practical list of situations where the clinician should be sure to have a skilled interpreter. 

 

JAMA, January 9, 2013—Vol 309, No. 2, from http://jama.jamanetwork.com/

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This webinar is the first in a series of seven in our Clinician Orienatation to Migration Health.

DATE RECORDED: Wednesday, February 13, 2013
PRESENTED BY: Deliana Garcia, MA, International Research and Development, Migrant Clinicians Network

To view the recorded version of this webinar, click here.

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University of Minnesota's Global Health training program is offering free short courses on immigrant and refugee health.

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The purpose of this course is to prepare providers to diagnose and treat acute pesticide poisoning and to increase their awareness of health problems associated with chronic pesticide exposure. While the focus of the course is on workers in agricultural settings, the course contents are also applicable for treating all pesticide related illness.

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This archived webinar originally presented by Jennie McLaurin, MD and Tillman Farley, MD, provides an overview of effective strategies to integrate behavioral health into health center operations. The presenters come with many years of experience in providing culturally appropriate and high quality health care to migrants and other underserved populations. This page includes links to other SAMHSA-HRSA sponsored archived webinars in additional topics.

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Webinar Presentation by Adam Hoverman, DO, DTM&H on Exploring the Intersection of Tropical Medicine and Migrant Health. Recorded on 4/18/2012.

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October 15, 2012

Spanish version

Background
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) with state and local health departments and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)External Web Site Icon are investigating a multistate meningitis outbreak of fungal infections among patients who have received a steroid injection of a potentially contaminated product into the spinal area. This form of meningitis is not contagious. The investigation also includes fungal infections associated with injections in a peripheral joint space, such as a knee, shoulder or ankle.

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Cancer statistics for Hispanics/Latinos, 2012 by Rebecca Siegel MPH, Deepa Naishadham MA, MS, Ahmedin Jemal DVM, PhD

Article first published online: 17 SEP 2012

Abstract

Hispanics/Latinos are the largest and fastest growing major demographic group in the United States, accounting for 16.3% (50.5 million/310 million) of the US population in 2010. In this article, the American Cancer Society updates a previous report on cancer statistics for Hispanics using incidence data from the National Cancer Institute, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries and mortality data from the National Center for Health Statistics. In 2012, an estimated 112,800 new cases of cancer will be diagnosed and 33,200 cancer deaths will occur among Hispanics. In 2009, the most recent year for which actual data are available, cancer surpassed heart disease as the leading cause of death among Hispanics. Among US Hispanics during the past 10 years of available data (2000-2009), cancer incidence rates declined by 1.7% per year among men and 0.3% per year among women, while cancer death rates declined by 2.3% per year in men and 1.4% per year in women. Hispanics have lower incidence and death rates than non-Hispanic whites for all cancers combined and for the 4 most common cancers (breast, prostate, lung and bronchus, and colorectum). However, Hispanics have higher incidence and mortality rates for cancers of the stomach, liver, uterine cervix, and gallbladder, reflecting greater exposure to cancer-causing infectious agents, lower rates of screening for cervical cancer, differences in lifestyle and dietary patterns, and possibly genetic factors. Strategies for reducing cancer risk among Hispanics include increasing utilization of screening and available vaccines, as well as implementing effective interventions to reduce obesity, alcohol consumption, and tobacco use. CA Cancer J Clin 2012;. © 2012 American Cancer Society.

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Latinas are experiencing high rates of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), teen childbearing, and unintended pregnancy. This report presents nine recommendations for sexual and reproductive health clinics and providers to increase young Latina women’s access to reproductive health services. The recommendations are based on findings derived from 14 focus groups conducted by Child Trends in three cities in the United States with young adult Latina women (18-24 years-old) and with reproductive health care and social service providers serving large Latina populations.

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New research out of Cornell University's College of Human Ecology found that low-income children of immigrants have much poorer health than low-income children of citizens, as reported in a special section of the journal Child Development.

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Abstract

STUDY OBJECTIVE:

To compare interpreter errors and their potential consequences in encounters with professional versus ad hoc versus no interpreters.

METHODS:

This was a cross-sectional error analysis of audiotaped emergency department (ED) visits during 30 months in the 2 largest pediatric EDs in Massachusetts. Participants were Spanish-speaking limited-English-proficient patients, caregivers, and their interpreters. Outcome measures included interpreter error numbers, types, and potential consequences.

RESULTS:

The 57 encounters included 20 with professional interpreters, 27 with ad hoc interpreters, and 10 with no interpreters; 1,884 interpreter errors were noted, and 18% had potential clinical consequences. The proportion of errors of potential consequence was significantly lower for professional (12%) versus ad hoc (22%) versus no interpreters (20%). Among professional interpreters, previous hours of interpreter training, but not years of experience, were significantly associated with error numbers, types, and potential consequences. The median errors by professional interpreters with greater than or equal to 100 hours of training was significantly lower, at 12, versus 33 for those with fewer than 100 hours of training. Those with greater than or equal to 100 hours of training committed significantly lower proportions of errors of potential consequence overall (2% versus 12%) and in every error category.

CONCLUSION:

Professional interpreters result in a significantly lower likelihood of errors of potential consequence than ad hoc and no interpreters. Among professional interpreters, hours of previous training, but not years of experience, are associated with error numbers, types, and consequences. These findings suggest that requiring at least 100 hours of training for interpreters might have a major impact on reducing interpreter errors and their consequences in health care while improving quality and patient safety.

Copyright © 2012. Published by Mosby, Inc.

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Patient-Centered, Provider-Managed, Interpreter-Facilitated Human Communication ©We prepare professional medical interpreters for the clinical setting - hospitals and clinics, where your knowledge of medical terminology and professional interpreting skills are critical.We teach three categories of professional online training programs to ensure that our students are comfortably placed in an appropriate e-learning environment with regard to their skills and experience.Our regular Professional Medical Interpreter Training Program, our Fast Track Program for Bilingual Healthcare Professionals, and our Comprehensive Language Neutral Program with Language Pack are designed to build a strong understanding of medical terminology and and of the ethical role, standards, techniques, and principles of accurate professional medical interpreting.

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 OVERVIEW OF NATIONAL BOARDThe mission of the National Board is to foster improved healthcare outcomes, patient safety and patient/provider communication, by elevating the standards for and quality of medical interpreting through a nationally recognized and accredited certification for medical interpreters.The CMI certification program is governed by the National Board of Certification for Medical Interpreters (National Board), an independent division of the International Medical Interpreters Association (IMIA). The purposes of the National Board are to:·         Develop, organize, oversee and promote a national medical interpreter certification program in all languages.·         Promote patients and providers working with credentialed medical interpreters who have met minimal national standards to provide accurate and safe interpretation.·         Ensure credibility of national certification by striving to comply with national accreditation standards including transparency, inclusion, and access. The Board of Directors of the National Board consists of 12 voting members that include medical interpreters, a health care provider, industry representatives, and a public member. Initial Board members were selected by a public process and independent selection committee. Subsequently, Board members are recruited through a Nominating Committee process and are elected by the members of the National Board. To see the National Board click here. 

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Supportive Voice. Among The Most Vulnerable by Tina Castañares , MD. Fall 2008

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The Journal of Clinical Ethics. The Diagnosis of Dying by George F. Davis. Fall 2009. Volume 20, Number 3

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Webinar Presentation by Tina Castañares, MD George Davis, MD Jennie McLaurin, MD, MPH on Palliative and End-of-Life Care for Latino Migrants. Recorded on 8/22/2012.

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