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An interactive lead case study by Susan Buchanan, MD, Linda Forst, MD, MPH, and Anne Evens, MS.

Photonovelas in English and Spanish. Produced by the North Carolina Farmworker Project.

Welcome to Immu-News, the Immunization Initiatives listserv, a monthly resource for the community of participants in this project. For now, this is post-only listserv (in other words, you will get only one e-mail per month in your mailbox, instead of floods of daily discussions) but we hope to evolve into a more interactive form, something that will truly be of service to you as each of you searches for ways to improve your ability to record and access immunization data, to increase immunizations provided to your clients, and thus to improve the health of your community.

Our topic for this month is introduced by Dr. Jennie McLaurin, MCN’s Migrant Health Specialist and the Project Director for the Immunization Initiative. We include examples and a source for patient-held immunization records, and two articles on the topic. Please feel free to send responses, comments, thoughts, and ideas to the listserv administrator at kath@healthletter.com. If you send comments, we will follow up with your responses and ideas in the next listserv.

Immu-News is also pleased to feature Grounded in Practice, highlights from the real world clinics participating in Immunization Initiatives. We begin with San Benito Health Foundation in Hollister, CA. We invite you to send suggestions, stories, examples of things that have worked to improve immunization practices in your clinic. Send your ideas to kath@healthletter.com

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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.

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Our May topic is “What Do Migrants from Mexico, Central and South America Think About Immunization?” MCN has conducted several focus groups in recent years on this topic, and we share with you, in two papers, what we learned in these focus groups.

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This site holds many medical Spanish material, including a comprehensive medical Spanish dictionary, complete with audio.

Spanish brochure to help workers prevent taking lead into their homes from the CA Dept. Public Health, Occupational Health Branch - The Occupational Lead Poisoning Prevention Program.

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Do You Cook with Traditional Pottery? It May Contain Lead!

Bilingual flyer from the CA Department of Public Health.

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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.

An online resource for mesothelioma patients and their families.

This website provides access to information about asbestos. You may access general information about asbestos and its health effects. You may also read about what to do if you suspect asbestos in products, in your home or in your school. There are some resources listed in Spanish.

The Immunization Initiative at MCN promotes improving childhood, adolescent, and adult immunization coverage levels among migrant and other mobile underserved populations. During the course of the initiative, anecdotal and documented evidence of an increase in the Hispanic indigenous population in United States and outside California surfaced from various sources. A separate initiative emerged, to design and develop a piece of educational material specifically for this population. This article, published in Streamline (March-April, 2009) discusses this initiative.

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EPA has revoked regulations that permitted small residues of the pesticide carbofuran in food.

Includes updates on key facts about the virus, links to oseltamivir and zanamivir information from Nursing2009 Drug Handbook, and the NursingCenter.com's printable patient education guide.

A leading online resource for comprehensive asbestos and mesothelioma information. The site contains patient education information as well as potential resources for patients suffering from mesothelioma.

A resource from SAGE in English and Spanish. A reminder to wash hands to prevent sickness from spreading. Prints legal size.

A resource from SAGE in English and Spanish. A reminder to cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze to prevent sickness from spreading. Prints legal size.

Sage Words developed a pandemic flu brochure specifically for a small clinic on the Navajo Reservation. Though the illustrations are targeted towards this population, it is available in English and Spanish, and the information is general. It includes preventative measures, and is for low-literacy users. It’s designed to be easily photocopied or printed from computers and is available to anyone who might find it appropriate to use.

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.

This website offers some free online lessons which teach basic Spanish concepts. More detailed and advanced lessons can be purchased on CDs from the website.
The goal of this project is to create awareness about less common languages. This website offers a database of less commonly taught language classes, instructional materials, and other resources for teaching these languages. There are some resources for Zapoteco, Nahuatl, and Mayan indigenous languages.
The town of Greenfield, CA has a high population of indigenous immigrants from Oaxaca, Mexico, many of whom speak little Spanish and/or English. This website is a compilation of work done by students from the UC,Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism and reports on what the town of Greenfield is doing to improve communications and relations with these indigenous peoples

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 CA Department of Pesticide Regulation provides videos in Mixteco about pesticide safety. Contact Charlene Martens to get copies or more information: (916) 445-4261 cmartens@cdpr.ca.gov

M E J Personal Business Services, Inc. is an interpreting, translation, and financial service based in New York City.  They provide Foreign Language Interpreting, Telephone interpreting, video remote Interpreting, and Financial and Translation Services.  Their website specifies that they provide document translations in Mixteco.  

General information or a free quote:  866-557-5336

The MICOP is an organization of English,Spanish,and indigenous language speakers who are working to aid Oaxacan immigrants in Ventura County California.They mostly provide direct services.The“Necessities of Life” program distributes clothing, diapers, blankets, and other items to those in need.The organization also has programs which provide food, resources for medical care,education and literacy classes for adults, and weekly community meetings.Contact info:325 W. ChannelIslands Blvd. Oxnard, California 93033805) 385-8662

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.

Radio Bilingüe is a Spanish language network on public radio.  Although it is mostly California based, there are affiliate stations in Carrboro, Asheville, and Greenville, North Carolina.  There is also a radio program broadcast in Mixteco called La Hora Mixteca.

 

Contact: Filemón López, Coordinator of La Hora Mixteca

lopez.f@radiobilingue.org

(559) 455-5784

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.