Challenges to Farmworkers' Health at the US-Mexico Border Broad, long term objectives are to establish a community-based participatory research (CBPR) partnership including the University of Arizona (UA), community, organizations and the farmworkers in South Yuma County, Arizona; identify health risks of farm workers and develop interventions to reduce these risks.
Specific aims are to create a risk profile, disseminate results to the community, generate hypotheses on the relationship between border residence and health risks and formulate a Roi intervention. Health relatedness of project/relevance to mission of agency: The UA's Project EXPORT Center or Health Equality addresses health disparities through CBPR and works in a Hispanic community near the border. Our community partners are dedicated to improving farmworker health and protecting the human rights of all border residents. Research design/methods promote direct community participation in decision-making. The partner organizations, UA, Campesinos Sin Fronteras and Derechos Humanos, will join in problem definition, development of the research instruments, data collection, analysis and interpretation with broad community participation. A cross-sectional survey will be used to interview a randomized household cluster sample of farmworkers in three communities in south Yuma County. Another survey will be conducted at specific pick-up points for farmworkers who are not living in local households but may be commuting from a distance, living in their automobiles, living across the border or living in """"""""colonias"""""""" not yet mapped. These surveys will collect descriptive data on farmworkers' health risks and order conditions that will be compared with national data available from the National Agricultural Workers Survey and the California Agricultural Workers Health Study. Results will be disseminated to the community as a basis for generating hypotheses on the relationship between border residence, work sites and the health risks of farmworkers. Rationale and techniques for pursuing goals: The border region experiencing increasing migration, the threat of terrorism and, consequently, intensive surveillance, Anecdotal evidence indicates that these conditions affect the health of farmworkers. Study techniques will engage the community in an analysis and dialogue on these issues, leading to innovative strategies for educing health risks. Relevance of research to public health: Farmworkers at the border are overwhelmingly Hispanic, suffer from many health disparities compared with other Hispanics and non-Hispanics in the United States and live in families of varying residence status. The border environment may affect their health and their ability to obtain health care. This study will identify aspects of border residence that affect health and that can be addressed through educational and policy- related programs. ? ? ?
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| Carvajal, Scott C; Rosales, Cecilia; Rubio-Goldsmith, Raquel et al. (2013) The border community and immigration stress scale: a preliminary examination of a community responsive measure in two Southwest samples. J Immigr Minor Health 15:427-36 |
| Rosales, Cecilia; Ortega, Maria Isabel; De Zapien, Jill Guernsey et al. (2012) The US/Mexico border: a binational approach to framing challenges and constructing solutions for improving farmworkers' lives. Int J Environ Res Public Health 9:2159-74 |
