| |
October/November
VOLUME 5, EDITION 5
|
 |
|
Highlights from the Field: Community Outreach at Tobacco Farms
|
|
 |
| Photo of Tobacco Farmers taken by Patricia Miles - Community Health Services Inc. |
|
This year our Community Health Workers have been hard at work with outreach at farms all over Massachusetts and Connecticut.
This issue we will be focusing on the outreach efforts from Community Health Services Inc. located in Hartford Connecticut. Both outreach workers Patricia Miles and Carlos Rosario have been visiting neighboring farms to deliver medications, provide health education and to provide transportation to and from the health center.
Connecticut is known for shade tobacco and is used primarily for a wrapper for premium cigars. The dwindling market for cigar wrappers has taken a toll on farms and farm workers in Connecticut. Though, broadleaf tobacco, which does not need shade protection is still being planted. Broadleaf is considered a lesser grade than shade leaf.
This year the CRVFHP has been informed by various partners in the Valley, including CHS, that the tobacco crops have been damaged this summer due to weather conditions.
For more information on the current state of shade and broad leaf tobacco in Connecticut, click
here.
|
|
| |
| |
After the Waters Recede, Worker Vulnerabilities Rise: How to Prepare Workers in a Post-Disaster Environment
Clean up, demolition, construction and rebuilding occur after every natural disaster, whether it's a hurricane such as Maria who devastated Puerto Rico or the earthquake in Mexico City. Collapsed buildings need to be fully demolished and the rubble removed. Construction workers, volunteers and other workers face various risks when going into these buildings to rebuilt their communities.
This article describes a worker named Jose, who has the task to demolish an office building whose roof had caved in. The carpets and office furniture are covered in mold and there are still puddles in the hallways.
The webinar, presented by Joseph Hughs, Jr., MPH, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, gives an in depth view into the hazards of the clean up efforts by these workers. Some of these hazards include illnesses such as tetanus, tripping, falls, mold and animal/insect bites.
To read the full article by the Migrant Clinicians Network, click
here.
To view the archived Webinar by the Migrant Clinicians Network, click
here. To view the webinar, please input your name and email. The PowerPoint slides are also available on this page.
|
|
Amid Trump's immigration crackdown, farmers look for reform
|
|
| Gary Paulk a muscadine and berry farmer in Irwin County said he lost about 200000 dollars in 2011 due to a labor shortage. - Elly Yu for Marketplace |
"If we don't have immigration, you'll quit eating - that's how important it is. Because we won't have the help here to pick it," - Gary Paulk
With new regulations regarding immigration and threats of raids, unauthorized migrants and their families have been weary to come forward looking for work that has been traditionally done by the undocumented workforce. Farm owners such as Gary Paulk, of Paulk Vineyards have been suffering from lack of workers. Produce is left to rot in fields.
Farm owners advertise for farm worker jobs before hiring guest workers, but American don't generally apply. Guest workers only account for about 10 percent of farm worker jobs. Another farm owner, Bill Brim of Lewis Taylor Farms in Tifton, Georgia, commented that the H-2A program is a good program, but can be tedious and requires a lot of particular paperwork that can be hard to manage. Newer bills are currently pending in Congress looking for change the H-2A program.
To read the full article, click here.
|
|
National Diabetes Awareness Month - November 2017
November is diabetes awareness month, which is particularly important for the agricultural worker population. Care givers must provide culturally competent and linguistically appropriate content to a mobile population that faces various social determinants of health.
There are many resources available to providers, health center staff, care givers and individuals who are interested in learning about how to manage diabetes and diabetes prevention.
The American Diabetes Association website provides in depth information regarding the disease and how to manage it. Resources include food and exercise guides, day to day activities to help manage and prevention methods. This website is available in both English and Spanish. To access this website, click
here.
The Migrant Clinicians Network also provides content regarding diabetes management for providers and individuals. The Diabetes Online Toolkit by MCN serves as a table of contents for various diabetes management tools for different audiences. To access the toolkit, click
here.
Here are some quick links to tools provided by the MCN on diabetes.
Archived Webinar
The Role of Community Health Workers and Diabetes:
Click here
|
|
|
|
National Health Observances
October
November
|
|
Farmers Adjust to Fewer Workers: Reprint of Rural Migration News Blog
|
|
|
Rural Migration News is published by the Department of Agricultural Economics at the University of California Davis.
Unauthorized migration has slowed down in recent years, causing farm owners to adjust to this change with a 4 point strategy: Satisfy, stretch, substitute and supplement.
Satisfying current workers can help farm owners retain workers. Farm work is typically not a career for many workers, therefore employers have been offering some benefits such as low-cost health care to employees and their families, end-of-season bonuses or improving training.
The next method, stretch, means to use mechanical aids to increase worker productivity. An example of this is to use conveyor belts to move produce rather than have workers carry the products. This can stretch the current workforce without the need to have more workers. This can also reduce having to lift heavy barrels of produce which can deter female or elderly workers.
Substitution means to replace workers with machines. Some examples of this are automatic feeders for livestock or a machine that shakes almonds and walnuts from trees.
The last method is to supplement the current workforce with H-2A guest workers. The H-2A guest worker program is expanding and is a more long term solution than to satisfy and stretch, which require upfront investments in machines or benefits.
|
|
To read the full article by the Migrant Clinicians Network, click
here.
|
| Where to Look for Resources: Farmworker Health Network 
For key resources and farmworker health guides, please refer to the Farmworker Health Network (FHN). The FHN is a group of six National Cooperative Agreements in migrant health funded through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to provide technical assistance and training to migrant health centers. Click here for a comprehensive list of FHN agencies.
|
|
Outreach Resource Corner
Free resources available in English and Spanish focusing on food, agriculture, energy, and the zero hunger campaign.
Infographics, resources and information related to diet changes, food types, fitness, tracking meals and healthy recipes for those living with diabetes.
|
Upcoming Events
- To view the archived English Webinar, click here.
- Online Registration Closes: Oct. 6th
Oct 17: CRVFHP Monthly Meeting, CHC, Inc., Enfield, CT
Nov 21: CRVFHP Monthly Meeting, Community Health Services, Inc., Hartford, CT
|
|
|
|
| |
|
