Reaching out to Farmworker Men via a Soccer Tournament Event
Putting Farmworker Needs First
Involving Youth in Outreach: Partnering with a Local High School
Delivering Health Education in a Culturally Appropriate Context
Assessing Patient Satisfaction
Committee Ensures Culturally Appropriate Materials
Family Support Group Meetings Encourage Networking and Promote Preventive Care
Increasing Male Farmworkers’ Interest in Seeking Health Services
La Placita Bilingüe Radio Show
Reaching out to Farmworker Men via a Soccer Tournament Event
2007, Benton County Health Department
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Last year, the Benton County Health Department (BCHD) organized the
1st Annual Benton County Soccer Tournament and Family Weekend over two days in August. The goal of the event was to attract a large number of farmworker families, particularly the men of the family. In support of the event, the BCHD administration proposed this idea to a Benton County Commissioner, who in turn provided funding to rent the soccer fields for two days.
Eight local and regional recreational soccer teams played in approximately 18 hours of soccer matches over the weekend. The County Commissioner presented the trophies following the championship match. With little funding to host the event, BCHD’s
promotores/as secured support and donations from local businesses for time, money, food, water, prizes and even a DJ. In addition to the tournament, a community resource fair was organized with over 30 community agencies. One of the key community partners to participate was the Lion’s Club who provided health screenings on their mobile health unit and worked closely with the Benton Community Health Center to organize follow-up medical care. Approximately 400 people attended this event.
Recognizing the difficulty of reaching Latino men with health services, the idea for this event came from one of the health
promotores/as who felt that it would offer a non-threatening environment to men. The added benefit though was that in organizing a soccer tournament, the men’s families also came out to participate, cheer on the teams, and take advantage of all that the weekend event had to offer. BCHD staff were present throughout the weekend to share information on medical, dental, and mental health services. In addition, the smooth collaboration between the Lion’s Club and the community health center to schedule appointments immediately after the screenings increased the likelihood that participants would receive follow-up health care services even after the weekend event was over.
Putting Farmworker Needs First
2006, Hudson River HealthCare, Inc.
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Hudson River HealthCare outreach staff participated in a state-funded project with the New York Center for Agricultural Medicine entitled “Community Collaboration for Farmworker Health and Safety.” This project involved farmworkers identifying health conditions affecting them on the job. When the top three preventable diseases were identified, farmworker patients received information on possible prevention and treatment strategies for each of these diseases. A prevention program was designed to address eye problems, their biggest concern, as part of the project.
The process that HRHCare undertook to determine the needs of farmworkers in an occupational setting effectively demonstrates HRHCare’s commitment to being accountable to farmworkers. HRHCare prioritized and incorporated farmworker input and participation in all stages of the project design and delivery. HRHCare has also illustrated how well its outreach staff is able to collaborate with other farmworker-serving organizations in order to more comprehensively address farmworker health needs.
Involving Youth in Outreach: Partnering with a Local High School
2006, Quincy Community Health Center, Moses Lake Community Health Center
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Quincy Community Health Center collaborates closely with a project-based high school in the area, High Tech High, doing prevention education, holding community meetings and celebrations, conducting community needs assessments and spreading the word about a variety of topics. The majority of the students at the school are Latino and come from farmworker families. As one result of this partnership, a local senior developed an HIV/AIDS awareness art project that was accepted as a poster presentation at the most recent Western Migrant Stream Forum. The art project will be on display at the clinic to encourage youth research on the topic of HIV/AIDS, especially prevention.
This project uses the educational system, an existing system trusted by the farmworker community to stretch limited resources. The collaboration with a local high school, whose students are children of local farmworkers, crew chiefs and growers, has given students an opportunity to get involved with local, national and bi-national health issues and participate in projects that will impact local and state health outreach models. By tapping into the leadership of farmworkers and their children, QCHC hopes to make lasting and generational changes in regards to health issues.
Delivering Health Education in a Culturally Appropriate Context
2005, Columbia Valley Community Health
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Columbia Valley Community Health delivers health education to farmworkers that is relevant and culturally appropriate. Health education topics are determined and prepared with input from farmworker focus groups, and planned in advance to maximize participation. On the day of the presentation outreach staff go out to the session location early and spread out across the camp to knock on doors and personally invite people to the session. The sessions are held in the camps’ central eating areas and usually attract 65-85 participants. In spite of their large size, sessions are interactive and participants have the opportunity to ask questions in the group or privately following the session. Participants receive an incentive for attending.
Columbia Valley Community Health uses essential principles of adult education and cultural appropriateness in its health education efforts. The program seeks to determine what farmworkers already know and what they want and need to know about key health topics through focus groups, and then use the experiences of participants to develop educational sessions. Additionally, since the majority of the area’s migrant population is Latino, CVCH responds to the important cultural concept of
personalismo – personal interaction – by personally inviting each participant to the session, rather than just posting the information or making a general announcement. Finally, CVCH effectively uses community resources to help attract participants to health education sessions. For example, they always bring copies of the local Spanish language newspapers to the sessions, and, through a partnership with a local
tienda, each participant receives a dozen tortillas.
Assessing Patient Satisfaction
2005, Salud Para la Gente
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At Salud Para la Gente outreach staff conduct a quarterly telephone survey and focus group to assess satisfaction with center services in an effort to continually improve services to farmworkers. The survey and focus group ask participants who have visited the health center in the last quarter questions regarding satisfaction with services; the quality of treatment received at the clinic; satisfaction with staff interactions, all the way from the receptionist to the doctor; and for recommendations on how to improve services. The survey is conducted mostly in Spanish with about fifty people each quarter. Results are shared with the Board of Directors, senior staff, and some of Salud Para la Gente’s funders.
Salud Para la Gente has improved upon efforts to evaluate patient satisfaction by conducting organized and quarterly assessments with large numbers of patients. Their efforts give farmworker patients a greater voice in the services they receive at the health center, and help to further build a relationship between the health center and the farmworker community. By sharing results of the survey with the Board of Directors and funders, Salud Para la Gente demonstrates its commitment to applying the information it receives and monitoring the results of any changes in the coming quarters.
Committee Ensures Culturally Appropriate Materials
2004, Terry Reilly Health Services
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TRHS has a Farmworker Health Advisory Committee that includes farmworkers as members. The Advisory Committee reviews all their bilingual materials and assists in the assessment of the needs of the farmworker community. The committee was established 11 years ago to include community input. TRHS identified the importance of including service users in addition of staff providing services to assess the quality of their services. The Advisory Committee meetings are held sometimes at the labor camps or in Spanish.
The practice of including farmworkers at different levels is a key component in outreach. Including farmworker feedback on educational materials ensures that the material is appropriate for the community in terms of culture and language. Involving members of the community to assist in the assessment of the community needs provides wider perspectives about the health needs of the community. The inclusion of service users also helps to assess the quality of the services provided. Finally, holding the advisory committee meetings at labor camps or conducting the meetings in Spanish ensures farmworker participation since their ability to participate is increased by the location and language used.
Family Support Group Meetings Encourage Networking and Promote Preventive Care
2008, Community Health Centers of the Central Coast
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In an effort to better communicate with their Spanish/Mixteco-speaking patients, Community Health Centers of the Central Coast (CHC) began to work closely with local organizers to develop
El Pueblo Entero: Foro para los Campesinos (The Whole Community: Forum for Farmworkers), a monthly family support group addressing the concerns of farmworkers in the Santa Maria Valley. This grassroots outreach effort with non-traditional organizers provides an opportunity for farmworkers to network among themselves and to learn about local social service agencies.
Working closely with the United Farm Workers and local agricultural agencies, the monthly meetings were developed to address the importance of preventive health care as well as to facilitate discussion regarding health and social services to farmworkers. CHC recognizes the need to listen to farmworkers in order to effectively address their needs and break down barriers to health care.
The monthly gathering allows CHC to simultaneously focus on the health care needs of each individual family while also educating the entire group. Shortly after the forum, monthly bilingual (Mixteco and Spanish) health classes are held that address the needs expressed by participants in the forum. Personal health care needs are discussed with a specialized educator, addressing topics such as women’s health, sexuality, HIV, pesticide exposure, housing, labor laws, and cancer support. The health education sessions are conducted in a comfortable, non-threatening environment with many service organizations represented. CHC believes that the
familia approach lets farmworkers know that CHC cares about their health and empowers them to make their own health care decisions while also facilitating leadership development within the community.
Increasing Male Farmworkers’ Interest in Seeking Health Services
2008, Vista Community Clinic
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The goal of Vista Community Clinic’s (VCC)
Male Health Services Project is to increase access to reproductive health education and clinical services for male migrant farmworkers, ages 25 and older in north San Diego County. The bicultural and bilingual project staff provides age-appropriate, culturally and linguistically competent reproductive health education to male farmworkers in a variety of locations including farmworker residences and work sites. Another component is the male reproductive health exam, which includes vital sign screenings, screenings for testicular and prostate cancer, instruction on self-screening for testicular cancer, diagnosis and treatment of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and information and referrals for fertility services.
Based on feedback from a needs assessment and asset mapping project carried out in collaboration with an advisory committee made up of members of the target population, VCC implemented a multi-faceted community awareness campaign to provide culturally and linguistically appropriate health education and referrals for male exams in a variety of settings. VCC also developed a clinic-based male health services enhancement plan that included provider training on recognizing and responding to male reproductive health and psychological needs, and recognizing and responding to cultural and social barriers that influence or impede patient-provider communication.
This project has enabled VCC to create a male-friendly service delivery environment. Male-oriented reading materials have been placed in the waiting rooms, and appointments are scheduled at the main clinic site away from where women and children are routinely seen. Male exams are scheduled primarily during VCC’s evening and weekend service hours to accommodate work schedules. Furthermore, project staff guide clients through the male exam process, helping them to fill out forms and providing interpretation services as needed. Men who receive the male reproductive health exam are encouraged to also access additional comprehensive health screenings, such as adult immunizations, TB testing, and diabetes and hypertension screening. Since implementing this program, the number of male farmworkers accessing health exams each month has more than doubled.
La Placita Bilingüe Radio Show
2008, Radio Bilingüe
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La Placita Bilingüe is a weekly live call-in Spanish program on Radio Bilingüe. The show is produced in Salinas, CA and is broadcast via its six network stations:
- KSJV 91.5 FM Fresno
- KMPO 88.7 FM Modesto
- KTQX 90.1 FM Bakersfield
- KHDC 90.9 FM Salinas
- KUBO 88.7 FM El Centro, and
- KVUH 88.5 FM Latonville.
The program was founded on the principles of building community and empowering immigrant farmworkers. It is grounded in a
Communication for Social Change framework, which seeks to put farmworkers in leadership positions where they act as agents of change rather than objects of change. In addition,
La Placita Bilingüe instills principles of tolerance, self-determination, equity, social justice, and active participation for all farmworkers.
The topics and themes discussed during the radio show come directly from representatives of the farmworker community such as parents, mothers, youth, etc. Oftentimes, the show invites special guest experts to provide their opinions and commentary about a variety of issues faced by the farmworker community. Some special guests have come from well-known community health centers and social service agencies in the San Joaquin Valley of California. Past topics addressed on the show include: asthma, education, nutrition, chronic diseases, overall preventive health practices, parenting, environmental health issues, and financial literacy.
Additionally, because of quality assurance standards set forth by Radio Bilingüe,
La Placita Bilingüe programming is informed by continued research and evaluation of farmworkers’ reactions and feedback. Staff conduct focus group discussions and interviews at flea markets and community events to gain a better understanding of the effectiveness of the programming in addressing the farmworker community’s health and social needs. Overall, this radio program is an innovation in outreach because it gives the farmworker community a voice, and provides a medium for addressing the most pressing issues faced by the community, including health care access and utilization.
