The Health of U.S. Hired Farm Workers

Abstract

Key Words farm worker, migrant labor, occupational health and safety, Hispanic health, minority health s Abstract Despite a recent surge in knowledge about U.S. hired farm workers, little is known about the health of this population. No national data are available on the size of the population, mortality or morbidity data, or on chronic health indicators. Demographic data show that these workers are mostly Mexican immigrant or migrant males, and nearly two thirds live in poverty. At least half of all current hired farm workers are undocumented. Fewer than one in five have health insurance, either through their employer or through government programs. However, programs targeting women farm workers, such as WIC or, in California, emergency MediCal, are more effective in helping them obtain needed services. The federal Migrant Health Program serves about 13% of the total of workers plus dependent family members. This paper reviews what is known in the following topical areas: (a) mortality and morbidity; (b) access to health care services; (c) control of infectious diseases; (d ) maternal and child care; (e) occupational health; ( f ) violence; and (g) chronic health indicators. It is suggested that future research incorporate a minimal physical examination of all patients or subjects in order to establish baseline information for the population. Such information will be helpful in targeting interventions and measuring their effectiveness.

Ecosystem Services in Biologically Diversified versus Conventional Farming Systems: Benefits, Externalities, and Trade-Offs

“…Production is also the primary goal of many growers working under small profit margins. In many industrialized systems, food production clearly trades off against other ecosystem services produced on agricultural lands (Foley et al 2005), and is responsible for many negative environmental costs (Pimentel 2009, Gomiero et al 2011a) and social costs (Villarejo 2003, Marks et al 2010, Pimentel 2010. Indeed, while food production has greatly increased over the past 50 years under the industrialized model of the Green Revolution, most regulating and supporting ecosystem services have correspondingly http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol17/iss4/art40/ declined (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2005, Raudsepp-Hearne et al 2010).…”

Language Concordance, Interpersonal Care, and Diabetes Self-Care in Rural Latino Patients

“…Rural Latinos are an understudied yet growing population in the US. [22][23][24] Due to their predominantly agricultural and mostly seasonal employment as well as other contextual circumstances, they have unique health care needs and face unique barriers in accessing health services. 20,32 Thus, the effect of language concordance may be particularly important for improving health for this subgroup of Latinos.…”

“…20,21 The results of studies about language concordance have not been validated in LEP Latinos receiving care in rural communities, a growing segment of the Latino population in the US that may benefit in unique ways from having language-concordant providers. [22][23][24] The purpose of this study is to determine the association among patient-provider language concordance, patient ratings of IPC and participation in diabetes self-care activities for Latinos with diabetes receiving care in rural community health centers.…”

“Is it worth risking your life?”: Ethnography, risk and death on the U.S.–Mexico border

“…Another man recounted being raped by a border patrol agent in exchange for his freedom. Because of the distressing numbers of deaths, their increase related to US border policy, the polarized political debates regarding immigration and the border, and the important health implications of the associated danger and trauma (see McGuire & Georges, 2003;Villarejo, 2003;see also Coker, 2004;Grønseth, 2010;McKay, MacIntyre, & Ellaway, 2003 related to the health effects of immigration in other contexts), the USeMexico border deserves our close and focused attention. This paper will utilize the methodology of ethnography e with its unique strengths in investigating lived experience as a long-term eye-witness, reflexively analyzing social positionality and social difference, and paying attention to linkages between micro level lived experience and macro level political economic structures e in order to analyze the experiences of suffering, fear, danger, and vulnerability in the USeMexico borderlands.…”