Skip to main content
x

Recently in the UK, there has been research supporting midwifery care. Due to this research, the UK has made some policy changes in regards to maternity. Midwifery care has been shown to be more safe for women with uncomplicated pregnancies and because of these new policies, the United States may follow in their footsteps.

Download Resource

The National Nework for Oral Health Access has developed a user’s guide that provides a structure, options, and suggestions to help Health Centers develop programs to implement oral health competencies that integrate oral health care into primary care practice, which increases access to oral health care and improves the oral health status of the populations Health Centers serve.

This new guide from the National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership is intended to help civil legal aid practitioners message their work to health care audiences in order to build stronger cross sector medical-legal partnerships and to encourage investment in that work.

Download Resource

On Monday August 18, 2014 MCN submitted technical comments to the EPA regarding the proposed changes to the Worker Protection Standard.  View MCN's recommendations for advancing stronger safeguards to protect farmworkers from pesticide exposure. 

Download Resource

This proposal will I) provide a profile of the agricultural industry and Farmworkers in Washington State II) propose a theoretical framework to understand farmworker housing accessibility III) describe prior legislative actions to address farmworker housing IV) and propose a set of recommendations to address farmworker housing.

This report captures important happenings in occupational health and safety from August 2013 through July 2014. Authoured by researchers from the George Washington University Milken Institute School Of Public Health, this resource focuses on workplace injury and illness statistics each spring and documents successes, challenges, and areas ripe for improvement in occupational health and safety.  

Download Resource

Published July 15, 2014

MCN holds the position that immigrant children fleeing violence in their home countries must receive priority consideration for their safety and health. We have provided several links with additional resources on this issue.

Safety in Words

Este diccionario ilustrado bilingüe de MCN, "Seguridad en Palabras/ Safety in Words", muestra los peligros que hay en el lugar de trabajo y las mejores prácticas para la salud y la seguridad en la agricultura. Desarrollado con el apoyo del Programa de Subvenciones Susan Harwood de OSHA, este recurso refuerza el vocabulario en inglés de los trabajadores que hablan español lo que ayudará a prevenir lesiones en la agricultura. 

Download Resource

Part 5 of the 6 webinar series: Essential Clinical Issues in Migration Health

DATE RECORDED: June 5, 2014
PRESENTED BY: Katherine Brieger, RD and Elizabeth Magenheimer

View Recorded Webinar

Participant Evaluation  

Presentation Slides (PDF)

To receive CME* or CNE credit after viewing any of these webinars you must do the following:
  • Complete the Participant Evaluation associated with each webinar
  • Send an email with your first and last name stating which webinar you completed to contedu@migrantclinician.org

Diabetes continues to be one of the most common and challenging health condition confronting migrants and other underserved populations. It is clear that a healthy lifestyle is critical to mitigating the impact of diabetes on individuals and the population, however effective and appropriate interventions can be difficult to design. Fairhaven Community Health Center in Connecticut and Hudson River Healthcare in New York, are two health centers that have long led the way in creating culturally appropriate lifestyle programs for migrants and other underserved patients. In this session the presenters will discuss lessons learned from the development of a variety of programs for diabetics and other patients including a community garden, nutrition classes, cooking classes, weight management and strategies to encourage exercise. The session will address the clinical core measures related to nutrition and BMI and will also discuss current research test second line drug effectiveness in Type 2 DM. Available in English

Learning Objectives:

  1. Describe culturally appropriate diabetes intervention strategies
  2. Identify strategies to address clinical core competencies related to nutrition and BMI to improve quality care.
  3. Receive “take home” examples of how to incorporate effective nutrition, weight loss, exercise and other health lifestyle strategies.

 

FURTHER READING

Download the Spanish Toolkit Materials

National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse, http://diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/dm/pubs/preventionprogram

Bright Bodies, http://brightbodies.org

New bilingual resource available April 2014!

Student Action with Farmworkers (SAF) has been using theater as an educational tool with farmworkers for over twenty years. By drawing on techniques of popular theater, SAF performs culturally appropriate, lively skits and facilitates theater workshops at farm labor camps. These performances spur conversations about mental and physical health, living and working conditions, and farmworker movements for social justice.

Many of SAF’s performances have focused on health issues, and they aim for this guide to offer dynamic tools for health care providers, educators, outreach workers, and public health innovators. Practitioners can also use these techniques with other populations across the social justice spectrum. For both organizers and educators, SAF hopes that popular theater can bolster the messages and information that you so readily share and provide a dynamic approach to outreach. Resources include songs, scripts, theater games and icebreakers. Printed copies are free, but SAF accepts small contributions to cover shipping and handling ($5-10/copy).

 

Available in print and online

Contact: Laxmi Haynes , 919-660-3660

Limited data document the multiple and repeated pesticide absorption experienced by farmworkers in an agricultural season or their risk factors.

Laboratory studies and case reports of accidental exposure to large amounts of chemicals indicate that there are immediate and long‐term negative health consequences of exposure to agricultural chemicals. 

The goal of this study was to describe acute occupational pesticide-related illnesses among youths and to provide prevention recommendations. Survey data from 8 states and from poison control center data were analyzed.

Concern about the adverse public health and environmental effects of pesticide use is persistent. Recognizing the importance of surveillance for acute occupational pesticide-related illness, we report on surveillance for this condition across multiple states. Between 1998 and 1999, a total of 1,009 individuals with acute occupational pesticide-related illness were identified by states participating in the SENSOR-pesticides program. 

In response to limitations in state-based occupational disease surveillance, the California Department of Health Services developed a model for surveillance of acute, work-related pesticide illness. The objectives were to enhance case reporting and link case reports to preventive interventions. Risk factors for pesticide illness were prevalent. 

The California Pesticide Illness Surveillance Program (PISP) is a major resource for pesticide illness epidemiology. This work attempts to improve characterization of pesticide illness in California, evaluate case ascertainment of the PISP and identify PISP’s limitations and biases for studying the incidence and epidemiology of pesticide-related illness. 

Public health surveillance for acute pesticide intoxications is discussed. Explanation of the goals, components and functions of population-based surveillance is provided with reference to key informational sources.

Pesticide Action Network, United Farmworkers of America, and California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation analyzed California government data on agricultural poisonings and enforcement of worker safety standards. Nearly 500 pesticide poisonings were reported for California farmworkers every year. The actual number of pesticide-related illnesses is unknown, since many poisonings go unreported. 

Surveillance data show that pesticide-related illness is an important cause of acute morbidity among migrant farm workers in California. Exposures occur in various ways (e.g., residues, drift), suggesting that the use of pesticides creates a hazardous work environment for all farm workers  Improved education for health care providers should be a priority. Growers should be educated about alternative forms of pest control and incentives should be provided to encourage their use.

Describes the growth from 1987 through 1996 of the Occupational Pesticide Poisoning Surveillance Program at the Texas Department of Health. The program was initially based on a Sentinel Event Notification System for Occupational Risks (SENSOR) model, using sentinel providers to report cases, supplementing the passive reporting by physicians that was required by law. 

The authors describe the growth of the Occupational Pesticide Poisoning Surveillance Program at the Texas Department of Health. The program was based on a Sentinel Event Notification System for Occupational Risks(SENSOR) model, using sentinel providers to report cases. The number of confirmed occupational cases increased from 9 workers in 1987 to 99 workers in 1996.

Matthew C. Keifer, MD, MPH; Iris Reyes, MPH; Amy K. Liebman, MA, MPA; Patricia Juarez-Carrillo, PhD, MPH.  Abstract. Audience response systems (ARS) have long been used to improve the interactivity of educational activities. Most studies of ARS have addressed education of literate trainees. How well these devices work with low-literacy subjects is not well studied. Information gathering on the training audience is an important use of ARS and helpful in improving the targeting of training information. However, obtaining demographic information from vulnerable populations with reasons to be concerned about divulging information about themselves has not been tested. In addition, a culturally competent method to effectively collect demographic and evaluation data of this growing population is essential. This project investigated the use of ARS to gather information from Hispanic immigrant workers, many of whom are socially vulnerable and have limited English proficiency (LEP) and low-literacy. Workers attended focus groups and were asked to use ARS devices or clickers to respond to questions. Questions were both catergorical (multiple choice) and open-ended numerical (text entry), and varied from simple queries to more sensitive points regarding immigration. Most workers answered the one-key response categorical questions with little difficulty. In contrast, some participants struggled when responding to numerical questions, especially when the response required pressing multiple clicker keys. An overwhelming majority of participants reported that the clickers were comfortable and easy to use despite the challenges presented by the more complex responses. The error rate increased as question complexity increased and the trend across three ordered categories of response complexity reached statistical significance. Results suggest that ARS is a viable method for gathering dichotomous or higher-order categorical information from LEP and low-literacy populations in a group setting while assuring anonymity. However, it is recommended that clickers be developed and tested with fewer, bigger, and more widely separated buttons, and less printing on the buttons for these populations. Further research is needed to determine the effectiveness of using clickers with simplified configurations in the workplace as a tool to collect data for surveys and assessments and to better engage LEP and low-literacy workers in training sessions. 

Download Resource

Summary of Results from the California Pesticide Illness Surveillance Program - 2010.  

 The Department of Pesticide Regulation administers the California pesticide safety program, widely regarded as the most stringent in the nation.  Mandatory reporting of pesticide illnesses has been part of this comprehensive program since 1971.  Illness reports are collected, evaluated and analyzed by program staff.  PISP is the oldest and largest program of its kind in the nation; its scientists provide data to regulators, advocates, industry, and indivudal citizens.

Download Resource

The CHAMACOS study is a longitudinal birth cohort study examining chemicals and other factors in the environment and children's health. 

In 1999-2000, CHAMACOS enrolled 601 pregnant women living in the agircultural Salinas Valley.  They are following their children through age 12 to measure their exposures to pesticides and other chemicals and to determine if this exposure impacts their growth, health, and development. 

Despite ongoing concern about pesticide exposure of farmworkers and their families, relatively few studies have tried to directly test the association of behavioral and environmental factors with pesticide exposure in this population.  This study seeks to identify factors potentially associated with pesticide exposure among farmworkers; grade the evidence in the peer-reviewed literature for such associations; and propose a minimum set of measures necessary to understand farmworker risk for pesticide exposure.   From: Environmental Health Perspectives

Download Resource

Print, cut, and distribute this handy bookmark to providers who treat migrant and seasonal farmworker patients. The bookmark includes links and a qr code to connect you to pesticide - related clinical tools and resources. In addition, we've included some useful phone numbers in case of a pesticide emergency.

You can also use the bookmark to keep handy the Health Network phone number to be sure your patients on the move remain in care.

Download Resource

This colorful bilingual comic addresses workers' compensation and immigrant dairy farm workers’ rights and responsibilities. It tells the story of a Mexican dairy farm worker who is injured on the job and the steps he and his employer take to make sure he receives his benefits, and the farm improves its safety. 

MCN's Director of Environmental and Occupational Health, Amy K. Liebman, appeared on the radio broadcast Epicenter: West Marin Issues on KWMR 90.5 FM to talk pesticides and the Worker Protection Standard. Liebman was joined by Hector Sanchez of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement. Host Frederick Smith discusses with Liebman and Sanchez a variety of pesticide-related issues, including protections for farmworkers and their families, farmworkers' risks of pesticide exposures, how pesticides are regulated, their health effects on farmworkers and their families, and what healthcare providers can do to mitigate, diagnose, manage, and report pesticide exposures.

During the interview Liebman referenced the Agricultural Health Study, which is available here.

A report prepared by researchers at The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services features a wealth of information on occupational health and safety and the migrant population, from farmworkers to fast-food chain employees to restaurant cooks and servers.

News release:
http://defendingscience.org/news/labor-day-looking-back-year-us-occupational-health-and-safety

Download Resource

Dramatic, visual and culturally relevant, fotonovelas are a successful means of communicating health information. The following fotonovela materials are downloadable.

Provided by Farmworker Justice