Depression, Social Factors, and Farmworker Health Care Utilization

Abstract

Latino farmworkers who live and work in rural areas seek care from private practices or migrant/Community Health Clinics. Farmworkers with elevated depressive symptoms are more likely to access health care. Rural health care providers need to be prepared to recognize, screen, and treat mental health problems among Latino farmworkers. Outreach focused on protecting farmworker mental health may be useful in reducing health care utilization while improving farmworker quality of life.

A Path Analysis of Mental Health Among Thai Immigrant Employees in Pranakron Si Ayutthaya Province

“…It is consistent of immigrant agricultural employees who came from developing countries to work in the U.S.A., who found that job conditions, job insecurity, occupational characteristics, distance travelled between house and workplace, and inconvenient transportation were risk factors for poor mental health and in some cases led to mental health problems (e.g. stress, anxiety and depression) [12][13][14][15]. Job characteristics, social support, socioeconomic status and education factors [16,18,19] among immigrant employees in the U.S.A. were linked to mental health problems (e.g.…”

“…These have led to poor mental health and psychosocial factors [9] including distance travelled between workplace and house, job conditions, separation from family and friends, lack of social service and access to adequate health services and social exclusion and lack of social support [3,10,11]. This was similar to immigrant employees who came from developing countries and worked as famers in the U.S.A., in which situation it was found that poor mental health was caused by lack of access to health services, job conditions, job insecurity, occupation characteristics and distance from workplace to house and in some cases was linked to stress, anxiety and depression [12][13][14][15].…”

Why do farmworkers delay treatment after debilitating injuries? Thematic analysis explains if, when, and why farmworkers were treated for injuries

“…In most cases this led to coworkers or the employer assisting the farmworker in receiving treatment, such as providing transportation to a medical facility. Access to transportation has been shown to be important for farmworkers in need of healthcare services [Newton, 2010;Georges et al, 2013]. While we do not know if farmworkers in our sample had personal means of transportation, our results indicate that availability of transportation by others helped injured farmworkers seek immediate medical treatment for injuries.…”

“…The concept of familismo may also be protective. Other research indicates that family members are influential on health behaviors [Stallones et al, 2009;Georges et al, 2013].…”

“…Farmworkers who are accompanied by their families have been shown to be more likely to utilize healthcare services than those separated from their family members [Georges et al, 2013]. The importance of taking care of one's family has been cited as a motivating factor for farmworkers to take precautions to prevent injuries at work [Stallones et al, 2009].…”