Migrant and seasonal farmworkers (MSFWs) and their families face unique health challenges due to their work environment, poverty status, inadequate housing, limited availability of clean water and septic systems, few transportation options, inadequate health care access, lack of insurance and cultural and language barriers, all together creating significant health disparities.
MSFW populations experience some of the nation’s most serious health problems including diabetes, malnutrition, infectious diseases, pesticide poisoning, and injuries from work related machinery. In 2009, HRSA-funded health centers served more than 865,000 MSFWs and their families. It is estimated that HRSA supported health center programs serve more than one quarter of all migrant and seasonal farmworkers in the United States.
Sources
HRSA - The Health Center Program: Special Populations
Related Guides
Tools
Border Health Topic Guide
Web site
Information and resources about US-Mexico border health issues.
Final Data Collection Standards for Race, Ethnicity, Primary Language, Sex, and Disability Status Required by Section 4302 of the Affordable Care Act
Web site
Provides the published standards for data collection on race, ethnicity, sex, primary language and disability status, as required by Section 4302 of the Affordable Care Act. Includes explanation and fact sheets regarding these standards.
Got Funding?
Web site
Provides customized funding searches focused on minority health and related issues (1.800.444.6472). Includes information to support grant writing activities and lists links to government and private funding sources.
Health Centers Program: Special Populations
Web site
Information about the health centers programs for special populations, including the Migrant Health Center program, Health Care for the Homeless program, Public Housing Primary Care program, and Native Hawaiian Health Care program.
HRSA Information Center
Web site
Provides publications, information, resources, and referrals about health care services for medically underserved individuals and populations.
HRSA: Office of Regional Operations
Web site
HRSA’s Office of Regional Operations (ORO) website that includes a directory of the ten regional offices and key staff working to improve health care systems and safety net, increase access to quality care, reduce disparities, and advance public health.
HRSA: Rural Health
Web site
Provides rural health resources that include grant information, technical assistance, and research publications.
National AHEC Organization - AHEC Directory
Web site
Lists contact information for regional AHECs by state. AHEC's (Area Health Education Centers) work to recruit, train and retain health professionals committed to underserved populations.
National Health Centers Directory
Web site
Offers a listing of health centers including migrant health centers available across the country.
National Hispanic Prenatal Helpline (NHPH)
Web site
Refers Hispanic consumers to a culturally and linguistically proficient prenatal care provider in their community.
Organizing to Address Minority Health Disparities: A Directory of State and Local Initiatives
Print publication
A detailed 90-page compilation of over 300 groups working to address the causes and solutions to the health disparities crisis.
Primary Care Association (PCA) Web Sites
Web site
Links to each state's Primary Care Association (PCA). PCAs work to promote, expand, and optimize access to primary care in each state.
Regional Migrant Health Coordinators - Directory
Print publication
Directory of the Regional Migrant Health Coordinators - a resource for migrant and community health centers, farmworker health programs, and all who are interested in starting, expanding, or improving health programs to serve migrant and seasonal farmworkers and their families.
Su Familia: The National Hispanic Family Health Helpline
Hotline/Toll Free Telephone
Provides Hispanic consumers free, reliable, and confidential health information in Spanish and English and helps navigate callers through the health system. Nationwide resources and local referral services are provided depending on the need of the caller. Call 1-866-783-2645.
Think Cultural Health
Web site
Provides culturally competency programs with continuing education credits and other resources for physicians, pharmacists, and nurses to better meet the cultural and linguistic needs of an increasingly diverse patient population. Offers a free online accredited educational program for a variety of health care providers: physicians, PAs, nurses, and emergency & disaster preparedness workers.
Funding
Service Area Competition–Additional Area (Anchorage, AK)
Funding for financial assistance to provide comprehensive primary health care services to an underserved area or population. This announcement is for one (1) service area only, Anchorage, ALASKA.
Inactive Funding
Inactive Funding Opportunities -
Lists additional funding programs for this topic that are not currently accepting applications. Programs that are inactive may be offered again in the future.
Maps & Map Collections
Hispanic/Latino Populations
Interactive
Geographic coverage: United States
Printable map that shows the percent of the U.S. population by county who are Hispanic or Latino. Data source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census of Population and Housing, 2000.
Date: 2000
Regulations, Forms & Other Useful Documents
Breaking Down the Barriers: A National Needs Assessment on Farmworker Health Outreach
Provides a national snapshot on the needs of farmworker health outreach programs.
Date: 04 / 2010
Building Our Understanding: Culture Insights Communicating with Hispanic/Latinos
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Addresses effective strategies of health communication with Latino/Hispanic audiences.
Date: 2011
California’s Agricultural Workers
Author(s): Sara Watson
Sponsoring organization: California Wellness Foundation
An examination of the possible impacts of reform on farmworkers.
Date: 07 / 2010
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
Guidelines for Providing Health Care Services through an Interpreter
Sponsoring organization: Cross Cultural Health Care Program
Basic information to help health care professionals work with an interpreter when providing health care.
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 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
HHS Action Plan to Reduce Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities
Sponsoring organization: HHS Office of Minority Health
Provides a brief overview of racial and ethnic health disparities and unveils the Department
of Health and Human Services Action Plan to Reduce Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities.
Date: 04 / 2011
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
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
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
National Stakeholder Strategy for Achieving Health Equity
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Provides a common set of goals and objectives for public and private sector initiatives and partnerships to help racial and ethnic minorities - and other underserved groups - reach their full health potential.
Date: 2011
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
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
Journals
Rural Migration News
Summarizes the most important immigration and integration developments affecting residents of cities and towns in the agricultural areas of California and rural areas throughout the United States. It is published quarterly, in mid-October, January, April, and July.
Organizations
Farmworker Justice Fund, Inc. (FJF)
Nonprofit/Foundation
Works to empower migrant and seasonal farmworkers to improve their wages and working conditions, labor and immigration policy, health and safety, and access to justice.
Health Outreach Partners (HOP)
National organization
A national non-profit health organization providing training, consultation, and information services to community-based organizations striving to improve the quality of life of hard-to-reach populations.
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 (MHP)
National organization
An organization that builds on community strengths to improve health in farmworker and border communities. Their programs provide 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 Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC)
National organization
Provides services and technical assistance to community, migrant, and homeless health centers.
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.
National Partnership for Action (NPA)
National organization
Mission is to mobilize and connect individuals and organizations across the country to create a Nation free of health disparities, with quality health outcomes for all people.
Terms & Acronyms
Colonias The term "colonia," in Spanish means a community or neighborhood. Generally "colonias" is defined as a residential area along the Texas-Mexico border that may lack basic living necessities, such as potable water and sewer systems, electricity, paved roads, and safe and sanitary housing.
Cultural Attunement A process that involves constant communication, sensitivity to the dynamics of relationships within a culture, and respect for the values and beliefs of a culture. Involves active “tuning in” on an ongoing basis.
Cultural Competency A competency based on the premise of respect for individuals and cultural differences, and an implementation of a trust-promoting method of inquiry.
Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) Services that reflect a set of behaviors, attitudes, and policies that enable effective work in cross-cultural situations.
Language Access Services (LAS) Services designed to ensure effective communication between limited English proficient individuals and English speakers. May include oral interpretation and written translation services and other provisions that enhance communication such as signage and symbols.
Linguistic Competence The ability of an organization and its personnel to effectively communicate and convey information in a manner that is understood by a diverse audience.
Migrant Farm Worker An individual whose principal employment is in agriculture on a seasonal basis and who establishes a temporary residence for such employment.
Patient Navigator (PA) A health care worker who provides assistance to patients who are facing a medical diagnosis or chronic disease. Patient navigators address the issues of health disparities and help racial and ethnic minorities and underserved populations who do not always receive appropriate advice and care when confronted with a potentially serious disease. They possess knowledge of the local community, effective communication skills, and cultural and health literacy sensitivity to their areas.
Promotoras A person who, with or without compensation, provides a bilingual liaison between health care providers and patients through activities that include assisting in case conferences, providing
patient education, making referrals to health and social services, conducting needs assessments, distributing surveys to identify
barriers to health care delivery, making home visits, and providing language services.
Seasonal Farm Worker An individual whose employment is mainly in agriculture, but who remains in the area throughout the year.
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