Enhancing Preventative Health Care for Latino Migrant Dairy Farm Workers in Addison County, Vermont

Background: Latino dairy farmworkers, mainly from Mexico and Guatemala, help produce over 50% of Vermont’s milk. Latino dairy farmworkers may not seek health care for many reasons, including fear of immigration/law enforcement, language barriers, lack of transportation, and cost of care. Purpose: The purpose of this DNP project was to increase the utilization of health care services, including immunizations, of migrant farmers by educating and providing information about preventative, curative, and support services available in southern Vermont (VT). Methods: The intervention, one 60-minute educational program session took place at a local church service for migrant farmers, and an informational pamphlet was provided to the attendees. A DNP student-designed survey was administered to five farmers before and 5 weeks after an educational intervention took place in order to obtain health information. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data. Results: Health survey data showed that the participant’s healthcare knowledge increased by 0% for immunizations (100% pre- and 100% post- intervention), 40% for annual check-ups (60% pre- and 100% post- intervention), 20% for blood pressure checks (80% pre- and 100% post- intervention), 40% for diabetic screenings (40% pre- and 80% post- intervention), 20% for mammogram screenings (20% pre- and 40% post- intervention), and 20% for colonoscopies (0% pre- and 20% post- intervention. Additionally, their health status improved by 1.8 (6.2 vs. 8.0), and all participants reported that they used free health care clinics at pre- and post- intervention. Conclusion: Our project results suggest that the educational intervention was helpful in increasing healthcare knowledge and access among migrant farmworkers. Improving health care among migrant workers can assist with maintaining ethical living and working conditions, and it can help sustain local farming. Keywords: dairy farmer, Latino, immigrant worker, health barriers, health disparities