Providing Health Education on a Weekly Radio Program

Conducting Outreach in the Fields with a Lunchtime Celebration

Targeting Settled-Out Farmworkers in an ESL Class

Regional Coalition Assesses Farmworker Needs in Eastern North Carolina

Maximizing Mass Media Outlets to Market Available Services

Marketing Department Ensures Cultural Competence

Monthly Newsletter of Community Events and Resources for Farmworkers

Using Novelas to Address Culturally Sensitive Health Topics

Newsletter Promotes Health Education

Increasing Male Farmworkers’ Interest in Seeking Health Services

La Placita Bilingüe Radio Show

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Providing Health Education on a Weekly Radio Program
2007, Columbia Basin Health Association top

In working with the farmworker population, most will agree that there is no single best way to reach out to this population. The idea of using the radio as a medium for conducting health education was suggested by one of CBHA’s outreach workers. She noticed that during lunch breaks, all of the farmworkers gathered as a group and listened to the radio.

CBHA collaborates with a local Spanish-language radio station who donates air time as a public service in order to provide listeners a weekly, one-hour radio talk show on health education and prevention. The talk show, La Caliente takes place once a week during the lunch hour. A staff member was trained to use the equipment and facilitate the show. Previous topics from the show have included diet and nutrition, depression, family planning, sexually transmitted diseases, dental care, diabetes, alcoholism, and health insurance programs. Typically there is an expert guest speaker, such as a doctor, nurse, social worker, or farmworker advocate that is very knowledgeable about the topic. The facilitator asks questions to engage in a discussion of the topic and listeners are able to call in and ask questions on the air.

The radio talk show has been an effective mechanism for reaching farmworkers with health information. Oftentimes, it is difficult to engage this population in an office environment or even in a community setting. The radio program provides a non-threatening and accessible way to share information. Over the past year, clients have come into the health center stating that they heard about CBHA on the radio, proving to staff that this program is also an excellent marketing tool. On one occasion when CBHA was not able to do the radio talk show, people called in to find out if it would be rescheduled to another day. This kind of feedback has let CBHA staff know that people rely upon the radio program for critical health and social services information.


Conducting Outreach in the Fields with a Lunchtime Celebration
2007, Clinica Sierra Vista, Bakersfield, California top

Clinica Sierra Vista (CSV) staff and promotores/as have implemented a special outreach and education project called the Cuadrillas de Mes or Farmworker Crew of the Month, which identifies a different crew of farmworkers to provide medical services to in the fields each month. At each event, CSV’s mobile medical unit staff—two physicians and four medical assistants or nurses—conduct glucose and blood pressure checks, provide minor treatment and consultations, cancer screening, and nutrition education. Rotating CSV staff representing some of the 30 health and social services programs housed within the health center such as Medi-Cal, WIC, and the local family resource center, provide critical information on the various services available to the farmworkers and their families. These staff members also routinely follow up with farmworkers after the event to ensure that they get connected with needed services even if the services are not provided by CSV’s respective programs.

In order to attract farmworkers and make the staff more approachable, this event is set up to be a lunchtime celebration with all of the fanfare of a mini-festival. CSV staff provide participants with information packets that include incentives such as water bottles and toothbrushes. A raffle is also held to give away larger prizes such as toasters and coffee makers. A local restaurant donates a delicious lunch that feeds upwards of 125-150 farmworkers at each event, while a live DJ also volunteers his time to provide the necessary entertainment to draw a crowd.

The Cuadrillas de Mes event is a fun and highly effective venue for providing the much needed health care for hardworking farmworkers in CSV’s area communities. This project was initially proposed because CSV had a difficult time getting area farmworkers to come in for services even though CSV and its satellite sites offer bus passes, extended hours, and weekend hours to mitigate some of the common barriers farmworkers face. Farmworkers are often not culturally accustomed to and financially able to seek medical care until it is too late. By targeting a different crew each month and making it fun to receive health care and information, CSV staff have been able to create trust with the crew leaders and the farmworkers who might otherwise never access services. As a result, not only have crew leaders become more open to hosting events, but farmworkers in need of further care have been more inclined to follow up after participating in one of these events.


Targeting Settled-Out Farmworkers in an ESL Class
2007, Oklahoma Community Health Services Farmworker Health Program top

In the service area of Oklahoma Community Health Services Farmworker Health Program (OCHSFHP), the farmworkers either return to their homesteads or move on to another location as the winter months approach. To take advantage of the down time and to target the seasonal farmworkers who now live in the area permanently, the Director of the OCHSFHP’s outreach program approached the instructor of a community-based ESL class about attending one of the classes to promote the health center’s services. The Director also hoped that by meeting with this group, she could solve a mystery as to why many of their former farmworker clients had stopped coming to the clinic for services. The Director knew that some former clients who had not visited the clinic recently, participated in this ESL class.

The Director conducted a presentation along with Quality of Life Associates, Inc. (QOLA), another community agency which provides services to farmworkers who have been disabled on the job. Each representative described the benefits of their respective programs. OCHSFHP offers medical, dental, and prescription assistance. QOLA assists farmworkers with locating surgeons who will render services for free or at a reduced rate, and also provides rent, utility payment assistance, and medical interpretation services for disabled farmworkers.

As a result of this presentation, local farmworkers received critical and updated information about services available to them. The collaborative effort also strengthened the relationship between OCHSFHP’s Outreach Director and the representative from QOLA. They now routinely communicate about other farmworkers in need of each others’ services. In addition, the Outreach Director discovered that many farmworkers had not returned to OCHSFHP because they thought that the farmworker health program ended in 2004, when the program stopped issuing vouchers due to a lack of funds. The Director explained to the former clients how the fiscal year runs and that funds were renewed and made available from year to year. The conversation proved to be enlightening for both parties.


Regional Coalition Assesses Farmworker Needs in Eastern North Carolina
2007, Kinston Community Health Center top

Kinston Community Health Center (KCHC) is a founding member of the Migrant Education Outreach Cooperative (MEOC), which began as a joint effort between the Migrant Education Program and KCHC to create a platform for communicating among agencies that serve farmworkers in Eastern North Carolina. The cooperative involves representatives from two public school systems, a head start agency, a community college, one health center, and two family-focused non-profit organizations. In addition to meeting monthly, conducting joint outreach activities, and communicating via a blog site, the seven coalition members are conducting a comprehensive farmworker needs assessment across the region. All representatives have assisted in the survey design, received training for administering the surveys, and mobilized their respective community volunteers to carry out the assessment. The assessment covers a five county service area, reaching 240 farmworkers and their families.

Some of the coalition members have carried out individual needs assessments of their farmworker clients in the past, but none have ever jointly conducted a comprehensive regional assessment that addresses farmworker needs beyond the scope of their individual organizations. The activities of this coalition, particularly the needs assessment, reflect a commitment to effective partnering so that each of the organizations can more comprehensively address the needs of farmworkers in this part of the state. Though data collection has just begun, all coalition members were eager to be a part of the assessment effort and the results will be used to identify and evaluate service gaps in the region and to guide and inform program design and grant applications.


Maximizing Mass Media Outlets to Market Available Services
2006, Community Health of South Dade, Inc. top

Community Health of South Dade, Inc. (CHI) uses all available channels to publicize their services. CHI appears on TV, radio, and in the local newspaper regularly. CHI representatives speak on Radio RCH, a Haitian weekly radio program and appear on Cable Tap TV, a Community Television Access Project sponsored by Miami Dade Community College promoting health awareness and education to over 500,000 viewers. Available CHI services are featured in the Farm Bureau newsletter and the South Dade bi-weekly newsletter for local growers in the area.

Community Health of South Dade, Inc.’s comprehensive marketing strategy is notable because it uses a variety of media outlets to reach farmworkers, a traditionally hard-to-reach population. CHI targets both farmworkers and the growers who employ farmworkers to share information on CHI’s services thus increasing the probability that farmworkers will learn about available resources in their area.


Marketing Department Ensures Cultural Competence
2005,Darin M. Camarena Health Centers, Inc. top

The Darin C. Camarena Health Center has its own marketing department that is responsible for designing all promotional and educational materials used by the outreach program. The marketing department ensures that materials are culturally, linguistically, and literacy-level appropriate. The department also oversees the field testing of all materials with the support and assistance of Darin M. Camarena’s Farmworker Advisory Committee and farmworker patients. Field testing methods include focus groups and individual data from patients.

The use of a marketing approach to the development of health education and promotional materials is unique in its effort to create products that will effectively communicate to the center’s target population, and that are shown to do so through field testing. Using an in-house marketing team, as opposed to an outside or contract team or individual, means that Darin M. Camarena has the input of a marketing perspective in planning for outreach services and outreach team meetings, and conversely, the marketing team is very familiar with the needs of the center and their farmworker patients and the surrounding community. Darin M. Camarena’s marketing department is ultimately responsible for making sure that the design of materials results in easy to read, easy to understand materials that promote successful health outcomes for migrant and seasonal farmworkers and communicate the services available through outreach and the health center.


Monthly Newsletter of Community Events and Resources for Farmworkers
2005, Southeast Missouri Health Network: Farmworker/Community Health & Resources top

Southeast Missouri Health Network’s (SEMO) Farmworker/Community Health & Resources program distributes a monthly newsletter, Cosechando la Noticia, to farmworkers across their five county service area. The newsletter highlights community events, educational and training opportunities, and programs and resources available to farmworkers through private and government agencies. Highlights also include information on programs available across SEMO’s six clinic sites and through their outreach program. Newsletter submissions are collected each month from SEMO’s Farmworker Advisory Council, made up of area farmworker serving agencies, state and local government agencies, universities, area hospitals, and churches. The newsletter is distributed to farmworkers at all SEMO clinic sites, as well as through SEMO outreach workers and promotoras, SEMO’s food distribution program, outreach and case management home visits, and through other SEMO sponsored events such as tai chi classes, legal aid, and fair housing and renters’ seminars.

Through the creation of Cosechando la Noticia, Southeast Missouri Health Network has effectively utilized resources in their organization and community to reach a large number of farmworkers with a needed service. Cosechando la Noticia is the only Spanish-language publication in the surrounding five county area, and SEMO has led local efforts to gather submissions and distribute the newsletter at a variety of locations. The result of their effort has been increased knowledge in the farmworker community of area services, programs, and community activities, increased knowledge of SEMO among farmworkers and other agencies, and increased networking between the six SEMO sites and the SEMO Farmworker Advisory Council member organizations.


Using Novelas to Address Culturally Sensitive Health Topics
2004, Terry Reilly Health Services top

As part of their outreach activities, outreach workers produced innovative educational materials such as an eight-part radio novella (soap opera) on sexual and physical abuse, Los Secretos del Abuso Sexual/Secrets of Sexual Abuse, and a short video presentation on common mental health situations of farmworkers, Cuentos Del Campo/Stories from the Field.

TRHS collaborated with a local radio station in the production of the radio novela and negotiated free airtime in return for ads placed with the radio station. In addition to using outreach workers, TRHS used specialists on the topics to review the radio novelas before presenting them to the public to ensure that the information provided was correct and clear.

TRHS identified an effective way to reach the farmworker community by using the radio media. Radio novellas are very popular among Hispanic families. Having a radio novella on topics such as sexual abuse or health situations provides health education in a widely accessible, informal and non-threatening way and in a language that can be easily understood by a broad audience.


Newsletter Promotes Health Education
2004, Golden Valley Health Centers top

Golden Valley Health Centers (GVHC) provides a Health Education and Outreach newsletter, Health Education News, every other month to all GVHC employees. The newsletter has articles about health education and the health center program, changes and information about the Outreach Staff, upcoming events, and a real-life story about a person that the Outreach Staff was able to assist.

In addition to their current practices of involving Outreach staff in site meetings and clinical committees, the Outreach and Health Education coordinators in management meetings, and providing an overview of Health Education/Outreach at Employee Orientation, this practice goes a step further to integrate Outreach/Health Education staff into the rest of the health care organization. Providing a newsletter to all GVHC employees is a creative way to foster cooperation and a sharing of information between the Outreach/Health Education department and the rest of the organization. It increases the overall awareness of farmworkers in the organization (through the use of real-life Outreach/Health Education impacts), thereby increasing the likelihood of providing culturally appropriate care to farmworkers and their families. This practice builds upon the base of integration already existing in the organization between the Outreach/Health Education department and the rest of the organization. It provides a creative venue for increasing cooperation and collaboration between the various GVHC departments, which in turn allows for continuity of care and increased culturally appropriate care for farmworkers and their families.


Increasing Male Farmworkers’ Interest in Seeking Health Services
2008, Vista Community Clinic top

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 top

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.