When one refers to the migrant population in the United States, it is generally in reference to those from outside regions or countries that are in the United States for various reasons, but most often for employment opportunities. Many migrant workers do not have a home, voting privileges, or union representation. In the United States, it has been documented that the migrant population faces unique health issues due to their work environment, education level, and lack of insurance.
Also included in the migrant population are refugees and immigrants. Refugees often flee war-torn areas seeking solace in different regions of the United States. Refugees and immigrants often arrive with little or no personal resources. Therefore, they are drawn to rural areas due to the relatively low cost of living.
In 2006, health centers served more than 807,000 migrant and seasonal farmworkers and their families. It is estimated that HRSA-funded health center programs serve more than one quarter of all migrant and seasonal farmworkers in the United States. (HRSA, 2006)
Poverty, cultural and language barriers, and education levels affect health disparities among the migrant population.
Sources:
HRSA Special Populations http://bphc.hrsa.gov/about/specialpopulations.htm
New Immigrant Settlements in Rural America: Problems, Prospects, and Policies http://www.carseyinstitute.unh.edu/publications/Report_Immigration.pdf
Migrant Health Issues http://www.migrantclinician.org/migrant_info/health_problems.php
Regulations, Forms & Other Useful Documents
Eliminating Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities: A Business Case Update for Employers
Sponsoring organization: National Business Group on Health
Explores key causes of health disparities in the U.S. and its workforce.
Date: 02 / 2009
Farm Labor Housing: An Overview
Sponsoring organization: Housing Assistance Council
Summarizes the current need of farmworker housing and the status of the federal programs that support farmworker housing.
Journal citation: Rural Voices Volume 10 Issue 2 Pages: 2 - 6
Date: 07 / 2005
Five Basic Facts on Immigrants and Their Health Care (Summary)
Sponsoring organization: Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured
Addresses how immigrants use and affect the health care system, and includes key facts about immigrants and health care.
Date: 03 / 2008
Health and Nutrition of Hispanic Migrant and Seasonal Farm Workers
Author(s): Katherine L. Cason, Anastasia Snyder, Leif Jensen
Sponsoring organization: Center for Rural Pennsylvania
Describes the health and food security issues facing Hispanic migrant and seasonal farm workers in rural Pennsylvania. Includes information on barriers to health care access and barriers to good nutrition.
Date: 11 / 2004
Health in the Americas: United States-Mexico Border Area
Sponsoring organization: Pan American Health Organization
Reports on the health status of persons living in California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and the bordering Mexican municipalities. Also includes social, political, economic, environment, and demographic information for these areas.
Date: 2007
Health Issues of Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers
Author(s): Eric Hansen, Martin Donohoe
Describes the socioeconomic conditions under
which migrant and seasonal farmworkers in the United States live. Health consequences resulting from occupational hazards and
from poverty, substandard living conditions, migrancy, language and cultural barriers, and impaired access to health care are described.
Date: 2003
Health Status: Special Populations
Sponsoring organization: Health Resources and Services Administration
Provides health-related statistics in text and graph form of the U.S. immigrant population. Results compare male to female, rural to urban, and native to non-native born.
Date: 2003
Immigrants and the Community: Farmworkers with Families
Author(s): Pilar A. Parra, Max J. Pfeffer
Discusses factors that promote and limit integration of immigrants and their families into rural communities. Based on findings from five New York agricultural communities that rely on hired farm labor.
Date: 04 / 2005
Immigrants Changing Rural America
Author(s): Hope Hanson
Sponsoring organization: Rural Assistance Center
Discusses the increase of Spanish-speaking immigrants who are moving to rural areas in America, their need for social services and healthcare, and the impact this has on the demographics of rural areas.
Journal citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 06 / 2006
Immigrants in the U.S. Health Care System: Five Myths That Misinform the American Public
Author(s): Meredith L. King
Sponsoring organization: Center for American Progress
Dispels myths about immigrants' place in the U.S. health care system that misinform the debate over immigration.
Date: 06 / 2007
Impact of Immigration on Health Insurance Coverage in the United States
Author(s): Paul Fronstin
Sponsoring organization: Employee Benefit Research Institute
Discusses the reasons for the steady increase in the number of uninsured in the United States and the disproportionate numbers of immigrants employed in low wage jobs that often lack employment-based health coverage.
Journal citation: EBRI Notes Volume 26 Issue 6 Pages: 2 - 8
Date: 06 / 2005
Improving Access to Language Services in Health Care: A Look at National and State Efforts
Author(s): Melanie Au, Erin Fries Taylor, Marsha Gold
Sponsoring organization: Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.
Assesses emerging national efforts to address language barriers and profiles work in three states—California, Minnesota, and New York—to highlight challenges, successes, and implications for future policy and activities related to providing language services.
Date: 04 / 2009
Key Health and Health Care Indicators by Race/Ethnicity and State
Sponsoring organization: Kaiser Family Foundation
Shows variations across states and racial and ethnic groups for six key health and health care indicators including rates of infant mortality and diabetes-related mortality and AIDS cases.
Journal citation: Academic Medicine
Date: 04 / 2009
MedlinePlus and the Challenge of Low Health Literacy: Findings From the Colonias Project
Author(s): Cynthia A. Olney, Debra G. Warner, Greysi Reyna, Fred B. Wood, Elliot R. Siegel
Sponsoring organization: Medical Library Association
Discusses the Colonias Project, an 18-month outreach project with the goal of increasing the usage of MedlinePlus and MedlinePlus en español and overcoming associated problems with health literacy in low-income, medically underserved Hispanic communities (colonias) along the Texas-Mexico border, where residents primarily speak Spanish.
Journal citation: Journal of the Medical Library Association Volume 95 Issue 1 Pages: 31-39
Date: 01 / 2007
Mexican Migrant Communities May Be on Verge of HIV/AIDS Epidemic
Author(s): Eliza Barclay
Sponsoring organization: Population Reference Bureau
Both migrants in the United States as well as those returning to Mexico show higher levels of infection of HIV than the general Mexican population.
Date: 09 / 2005
Migrant Health Issues: Recruitment, Retention and Training of Bilingual / Bicultural Staff
Author(s): Marian McDonald
Sponsoring organization: National Center for Farmworker Health
Discusses importance of cultural competence in providing health care to migrant farmworkers and recommendations for developing a culturally competent health workforce.
Date: 2001
National Plan for Action
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Captures the status of health disparities in our country and proposes 20 strategies for their elimination.
Date: 12 / 2009
New Requirements for Citizenship Documentation in Medicaid
Sponsoring organization: Kaiser Family Foundation
Provides information on the new federal requirement that all U.S. citizens and nationals applying for or renewing their Medicaid coverage provide documentation of their citizenship status and examines the implications for Medicaid beneficiaries and the states.
Date: 03 / 2007
Profile of Hired Farmworkers, a 2008 Update
Author(s): William Kandel
Sponsoring organization: USDA Economic Research Service
Describes the hired farmworker labor market which is unique because it includes a large population of relatively disadvantaged, often unauthorized workers, and sometimes mobile workforce. Discusses poverty rates and housing issues for these workers.
Date: 07 / 2008
Protection of Migrant Agricultural Workers in Canada, Mexico and the United States
Sponsoring organization: Commission for Labor Cooperation
Overview of the laws and programs that protect migrant farmworkers in the United States, Mexico and Canada. Includes information on safety, health insurance, child labor, retirement.
Date: 2002
Racial and Ethnic Disparities in U.S. Health Care: A Chartbook
Author(s): Holly Mead, Lara Cartwright-Smith, Karen Jones, Christal Ramos, Kristy Woods, Bruce Siegel,
Sponsoring organization: Commonwealth Fund
Presents evidence linking racial and ethnic health disparities to the overall performance of local health care systems.
Date: 03 / 2008
Reducing Health Disparities in Health Coverage for Legal Immigrant Children and Pregnant Women
Author(s): Leighton Ku
Sponsoring organization: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
Discusses the disparities in health insurance coverage between citizen and immigrant children, which was large a decade ago and has grown
significantly larger.
Date: 04 / 2007
Services for Hispanic Children and Families
Author(s): Beth A. Stroul
Sponsoring organization: National Technical Assistance Center for Children's Mental Health
Summarize issues and challenges of providing mental health services for children and their families from diverse populations.
Date: 07 / 2006
Strategic Framework for Improving Racial/Ethnic Minority Health and Eliminating Racial/Ethnic Health Disparities
Intended to help guide, organize and coordinate the systematic planning, implementation and evaluation of efforts within OMH, DHHS and across the nation to achieve better results relative to minority health improvements and health disparities reductions.
Date: 2006
Strategies for Improving Latino Healthcare in America: Report of The Latino Healthcare Taskforce
Author(s): Glenn Melnick, Lois Green, Lawrence Stiffman, et al.
Sponsoring organization: Latino Coalition
Provides an overview of Latinos in America. Reports on a number of healthcare strategies and recommendations for improving Latino healthcare along with supporting information.
Date: 09 / 2006
Studying Health Outcomes in Farmworker Populations Exposed to Pesticides
Author(s): Linda A. McCauley, W. Kent Anger, Matthew Keifer,
Sponsoring organization: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Examines the issues related to studying health effects associated with chronic low-dose exposure to pesticides particularly in the farmworker population.
Date: 06 / 2006
Organizations
Migrant Clinicians Network (MCN)
National organization
A network of clinicians across the country who work to eliminate health disparities among migrant and seasonal farmworkers and other vulnerable mobile populations.
Migrant Health Promotion
National organization
Builds on community strengths to improve health in farmworker and border communities through peer health education, increase access to health resources and bring community members together with health providers, employers and policymakers to create positive changes.
National Advisory Council on Migrant Health (NACMH)
Federal government
The Council is legislatively mandated to advise, consult with, and make recommendations to the Secretary of Health and Human Services, on the health and well being of migrant farmworkers and their families. Fifteen members are appointed by the Secretary to serve four-year terms.
National Alliance for Hispanic Health
National organization
Mission is to improve the health and well being of Hispanics. The Alliance informs consumers, supports health and human service providers in the delivery of quality care, improves the science base for accurate decision making by promoting better and more inclusive research, promotes appropriate use of technology, insures accountability, advocates on behalf of Hispanics, and promotes philanthropy. Information in English and Spanish.
National Center for Farmworker Health (NCFH)
National organization
Dedicated to improving the health status of farmworker families by providing information services and products to a network of more than 500 migrant health center service sites in the United States as well as other organizations and individuals serving the farmworker population.
