Migrant and seasonal farm workers bring food from farms to tables, but oftentimes struggle to meet basic healthcare needs.
The University of Kansas School of Social Welfare will partner with the Migrant Farm Workers Assistance Fund to look into barriers migrant and seasonal farm workers have with the healthcare system.
?What we?re dealing with mostly, at this point, is speaking with people about the barriers they have; somewhat barriers once they get into the system, and understanding the system,? director of the Migrant Farm Workers Assistance Fund Suzanne Gladney said. ?I think understanding when you?re a migrant moving a lot, as many as four to five picking locations a year, many times to a place you?ve never been before, understanding where a clinic is or how to access one in that location.”
Cheryl Holmes is an associate researcher with the University of Kansas School of Social Welfare. Holmes said researchers will first identify what information needs to be researched.
?We want to talk with them about what things are important to them, what are the barriers (when it comes to healthcare) and what are the facilitators helping bring them in,? Holmes said. ?We feel very fortunate to have funding to not just be focused on doing the research, but taking that initial step to saying, ?Lets sit down and found out what areas are important to them, where there are gaps in that research and then finding out from them, providers, other researchers and what the issues are so we can have that research agenda at the end.?
The University of Kansas received funding for the engagement project from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute Engagement Awards program. Researchers will focus on crop-based and orchard-based migrant and seasonal farm workers in the Midwest for two years, through December 2018.
