transportation as a primary obstacle to migrant latino ... m… · latino migrant healthcare access...
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Transportation as a Primary Obstacle to Migrant
Latino Farmworker HealthcareLorenzo Rodriguez, State University of New York at Geneseo
Abstract:During our study at SUNY Geneseo titled “Im/migrant
Latino Farmworker and Farmworker Family Health and
Access to Healthcare,” healthcare providers across
Western New York were interviewed and data regarding
Latino migrant healthcare access was collected. We
discovered that transportation serves as a significant
challenge in access to healthcare. It is currently not
possible for Latino Immigrants to obtain licenses in New
York State. 10 healthcare service providers were
interviewed and all 10 service providers claimed
transportation was a significant barrier for Latino migrant
patients at their facilities. 9 out of 10 service providers
believed that legalizing restricted licenses for Latino
migrants would favorably benefit the Latino migrant
community..
Methods/Data Analysis: Results/Findings:Data collection
• Ethnographic structure
• Participant observation & recorded field notes
• Healthcare resources logged using Microsoft Excel
• A series of qualitative interviews conducted with approximately
15 healthcare providers, and 12 migrant farmworkers
• Interviews recorded using an electronic audio recorder
Data Analysis
• Interviews transcribed using Inqscribe
• Interviews coded for themes related to transportation, drivers
licenses, and mobility using Atlas.ti
References:Bohon, Stephanie A., Katherine Stamps, and Jorge H. Atiles. "Transportation and
Migrant Adjustment in Georgia." Population Research and Policy Review 27, no. 3 (2008): 273-
91. doi:10.1007/s11113-008-9075-8.
Hansen, Eric, "Health Issues among Migrant/Seasonal Farm Workers." PsycEXTRA
Dataset, 1999. doi:10.1037/e541592010-001.
Horton, Sarah Bronwen. They Leave Their Kidneys in the Fields: Illness, Injury and
Illegality among U.S. Farmworkers. Oakland, CA: University of California Press, 2016.
"MILKED: A Report About Immigrant Dairy Workers in New York." Tompkins
County Workers' Center. Accessed July 09, 2018.
http://www.tcworkerscenter.org/2017/06/milked-a-report-about-immigrant-dairy-workers-
in-new-york/.
Thompson, Reagan H., Audrey E. Snyder, David R. Burt, Doris S. Greiner, and Max A.
Luna. "Risk Screening for Cardiovascular Disease and Diabetes in Latino Migrant Farmworkers:
A Role for the Community Health Worker." Journal of Community Health 40, no. 1 (2014): 131-
37. doi:10.1007/s10900-014-9910-2.
When asked if transportation was a primary obstacle in migrant patient’s
ability to access care, 10/10 respondents said ‘Yes.’
When asked if legalization of restricted licenses for migrant farmworkers
would improve healthcare access, 9/10 respondents said ‘Yes.’
• For the respondent that replied ‘NO,’ their follow up response was as
follows: “ I still think there's a lot of people that wouldn't go to that
length...Fear! I mean you've gotta go to the department of motor vehicles,
which normally coincides with the sheriff's department or the state
troopers… “
When asked about the general challenges faced by migrant farmworkers in
accessing healthcare, transportation barriers were referred to
consistently.
Question: “what are some of your biggest challenges in providing services to
the immigrant migrant farmworker community?
Responses:
• “Geographic distance.”
• “transportation because um...unlike Washington state, they can’t get legal
driver's licenses here…”
• “Transportation definitely poses a barrier…”
• “So first of all, the transportation to get back and forth to some place
that's way out of the way… then they pay drivers who can charge-em 100
dollars to go twenty miles and back, um, and they have to pay it so, its a
huge barrier to their care.”
When asked about the transportation barriers faced by migrant
farmworkers, healthcare providers consistently regarded transportation as
a primary barrier.
Question: “To what extent does transportation pose an obstacle to migrant
farmworkers access to care?
Responses:
• “right now they spend a huge portion of their salary just paying for
transportation…”
• “Transportation's huge.”
When service providers were asked about there ability to overcome
transportation barriers, their responses were as follows:
• “The fact that we have transportation is huge…local people who quote on
quote transport them but they were charging her over a hundred dollars
just to drive her to the clinic so she no-showed several visits before the
staff realized why and now, even though it is a big financial burden to the
clinic, we have an outreach worker who goes and gets her and she has been
to all of her appointments…”
• “There was a farmworker who had an infection in his leg, and he had some
maggots in the infection and he was trying to self-treat because he
couldn’t get off of work and he didn’t want to lose his job… so we had to
send one of our drivers to pick him up an hour and half away to take him to
our health center that was open the night that he had off because we do
night hours with one of our health centers… we were able to get the
maggots cleaned up and taken care of to prevent further infection but I
mean that was a huge piece of that transportation piece.”
When asked what kind of support is needed to help assist migrant
farmworkers in accessing health care provider responded:
• Um better transportation in each county um…if my car breaks down right
now, I would not know where to go to stand to get the bus (small laugh) it's
like, it's not readily visible …”
Campaigning for Drivers Licenses
The Alianza Agrícola
is a grassroots
organization in
Western New York
that was created by
migrant farmworkers
in support of migrant
farmworkers. The
organization is
currently involved in
several movements
including the
“Families Belong Together and Free” movement and the
“Green Light New York: Diving Together” campaign. The Green
Light Campaign hoped to push legislation to restore access to
driver’s licenses for undocumented immigrant New Yorkers.
www.workerscny.org
https://www.facebook.com/theAlianzaAgricola/