Farmworkers Health Initiative

Furthermore, tracking data indicate that farmworkers are at high risk for occupational and medical problems. Many farmworkers experience back pain, but they do not report their symptoms for fear that they will lose their jobs. Farmworkers also are at risk for high cholesterol, hypertension, and high glucose levels, and they rarely benefit from occupational health or prevention services because they work in an isolated environment.

The Farmworker Health Initiative was designed as an educational and screening outreach program targeting African American, Hispanic, and non-Hispanic men, women, and teenagers who worked in agriculture-related jobs. The program focused on preventing and treating occupational and medical health problems.

The Southeast AHEC coordinated three FARMEDIC courses. FARMEDIC is a national farm emergency training program that has developed a system to train rescue workers on how to respond properly to rural emergencies. All training participants are required to pass a certification exam at the end of the 2-day course. The project also taught first aid and CPR to agricultural workers and their families. In addition, the AHEC helped to enroll eligible farmworkers and their families in Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. A bilingual enroller was available to attend community health fairs and to travel to farmworkers’ homes.

The project had originally planned on hiring a full-time nurse practitioner to drive a van throughout the community to provide primary health care services. However, none of the nurse practitioners in the area were bilingual. Therefore, the project established an outpatient clinic at the LSU Medical Center staffed by a nurse practitioner who also attended health fairs and outreach events. This step enabled the project to hire a bilingual, multicultural community health outreach coordinator to link farmworkers to health care and social service agencies in the community. The coordinator also played an important role in training students on farmworker health issues and following up with farmworkers who had abnormal screening results or needed referrals.

In addition, the project purchased a 22-foot van that stores health fair materials and medical equipment. The van contains a restroom, an examination table, and a desk. It serves as a single examination room and has been used for individual counseling sessions.

The students involved in the program benefited from the opportunity to see examples of the cultural differences in agricultural life. They came to understand the degree to which language can be a barrier to health care and to appreciate the fact that farming is physically demanding work. In addition, many farmworkers who normally would not have agreed to be screened for various illnesses acquiesced because they saw it as an opportunity to help students learn.

The project also developed a bilingual community resource manual to provide agencies and individuals with information on local and national resources. The manual is available online at the Florida Parishes Social Sciences Research Center Web site.

Outreach screening services will continue, and health professions students will provide additional screening services for farmworkers and their families in the region. The project also offers hearing screenings, Spanish nutrition classes, diabetes screening, nursing care, pediatric services, and referrals. A Spanish-language CD-ROM version of First Aid Farm Quest is being developed under the grant’s no-cost extension.