Farmworker Health Issues
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Farmworkers and their families face numerous health issues due to their living and working conditions, including diabetes, HIV/STIs, and skin cancer. Farmworker Justice’s health promotion projects focus on capacity building, training and technical assistance, and information-sharing to empower farmworkers to improve their health.
ReUnidos: Farmworker Connections to Skin Cancer Care project aims to adapt a lay health navigator program that will address the social determinants of health (SDOH) experienced by farmworker patients when accessing specialty care. Working with AIM at Melanoma, Vista Community Clinic, and Finger Lakes Community Health, we facilitate the timely diagnosis and treatment of skin cancer in rural communities. The project builds on a previous FJ project, “United Eliminating Barriers to Skin Cancer Prevention (Unidos),” that focused on skin cancer prevention, education, and screening. ReUnidos is funded with support from Bristol Myers Squibb, Novartis, and Regeneron.
“Juntos Nos Movemos: Parents and Children Making the Time to Move Together” promotes physical activity among farmworker families. FJ is partnering with the National Migrant and Seasonal Head Start Collaboration Office and migrant health centers to develop curriculum content, provide trainings to farmworker families, and distribute educational materials.
FJ also partnered with Lideres Campesinas, a farmworker women’s organization in California, to develop “Breaking the Silence,” an educational video and discussion guide on sexual violence in agricultural fields. The video, created in Spanish and Mixteco, aims to educate and empower farmworker women mitigate and report sexual harassment and violence in the workplace. The video and companion materials are available for viewing and/or download.
FJ’s health resources respond to the needs of farmworker communities. Our materials for workers are created with community partners and are available in English, Spanish, and Haitian Creole with a space for local information. We also develop issue briefs, fact sheets, and a Health Policy Bulletin to share health information with farmworker service providers to support their health efforts.
Visit our Resource Center to access our health materials.