Mobile medical and dental van.
What do you think about when you take a sip of warm coffee, or eat a bowl of blueberries? Six months ago, I would not have answered “migrant workers”. However, through studying abroad in Costa Rica and pursuing a summer experience (funded by the Lang Center for Civic and Social Responsibility) with a mobile clinic outreach program for migrant workers in Oregon, I have been able to learn more about health issues of migrant agricultural workers.
Main street running through a border town. To the right of this street is Panama, to the left, Costa Rica.
Because migrant farmworkers often move between countries and regions, following crop seasons, it is difficult for them to obtain consistent, integrated health care, or to develop ongoing relationships with providers. When providing health care to migrant workers, medical records are usually not available. Near this border town (see picture) in Costa Rica, health workers sometimes set up tents where they vaccinate migrant workers passing through. For vaccines, as with certain other types of medical care, having a detailed record of which ones people have or haven’t received before, and when they received them, would be helpful.
Immigration status can also be a source of fear for migrant workers, since many are undocumented. Even though the organization I am working with this summer is a non-profit organization that is not affiliated with the government or immigration services, people still often give us false personal information such as phone numbers and date of birth. This can make it more difficult to communicate with them and keep accurate records.
There are a host of formidable language and cultural barriers as well. In both Costa Rica and the US, a number of the migrant workers speak indigenous languages as their primary language. Moreover, cultural differences may lead to provider and patient having different understandings of the causes of health and illness, the role of providers, and effective treatments.
These are but a few of the factors leading to the current health status of migrant workers. The average life expectancy of migrant farmworkers in the US is a shocking 49 years old (Moreno). Some of the health issues that have seemed of particular concern in migrant camps that we’ve visited this summer are diabetes and sexually-transmitted diseases.
Particularly with the tension surrounding immigration and migration in the US currently, people may wonder why they should care about migrant worker health. In my opinion, regardless of your views on immigration and what rights and services migrant workers should and shouldn’t be entitled to, health is pretty basic, and the people whose labor we benefit from at almost every meal deserve basic health. Moreover, migration is one example of how global health can easily become local.
There are a number of ways in which people who want to can contribute their energies and talents to help out. Recently, a group of college students at Evergreen State University held a bicycle collection drive, and we are in the process of taking the bikes to the migrant camps. Others volunteer to provide much-needed health education (see picture).
One thing I think would help the health status of migrant workers is reducing their invisibility in our society. Maybe I’m just ignorant, and other people are more aware of migrant worker issues than I was six months ago. But more media coverage, research, and people educating themselves would all help increase awareness. If you ever get the chance, visiting a migrant camp and sitting and having a conversation with the people there will affect the way you think about food.
Moreno, Alberto. Migrant Health Fact Sheet. Oregon Department of Human Services. Web. 4 July 2010. <http://oregon.gov/DHS/ph/omh/migrant/migranthealthfactsheet.pdf>.
This post was written by mi.zheng
