Building Blocks: Achieving Excellence in Migrant Health

The 24th Annual Midwest Stream Farmworker Health Forum was held November 20-22,

2014 in San Antonio, TX. 203 migrant and community health professionals, representing

22 states, traveled to San Antonio, Texas to take part in educational sessions, information

sharing, and networking with their migrant and community health center colleagues.

Forum participants were offered 24 individual 90-minute breakout sessions, 3 exciting and

information-packed plenary sessions, and three 3-hour intensive sessions, totaling over

50 hours of educational opportunities. More than 50 speakers from across the country

presented on a wide array of topics including: the 19 Health Center Program Requirements,

the Affordable Care Act, behavioral health, outreach and enrollment, Community Health

Worker programs, HIV, pesticide safety, Community Based Participatory Research, personal

goal setting and career planning, diabetes, PCMH, and community engagement, among

many others. Educational sessions were submitted for CEU approval with varying

accrediting institutions to provide educational credit in the professional areas of, nursing,

health education, social work and for community health workers.

The 24th Annual Midwest Stream Forum united the agricultural worker health community

for 3 energizing days of professional development. With the purpose of providing Building

Blocks for Achieving Excellence in Migrant Health, the Forum emphasized the exchange of

information on model programs, new resources and tools, and the latest research and

trends in agricultural worker health. The multi-track program featured sessions on

agricultural worker health-specific clinical, research, outreach/lay health, administration,

management, and leadership development topics.

Thursday’s Opening Plenary began with the welcome address from NCFH CEO,

Roberta Ryder, followed by federal updates related to migrant health and an update from

NACHC. We were pleased to have Dr. Seiji Hayashi, Chief Medical Officer and Senior Advisor

for Special Populations at the Bureau of Primary Health Care (BPHC) deliver the federal

updates and discuss the commendable growth and accomplishments of the Migrant and

Community Health Care movement the last 50 years. Dr. Hayashi also provided participants

the BPHC’s strategies to encourage growth and strengthen the special populations

programs. The Opening Plenary concluded with a presentation by Carl Rush who provided

“Developments in Policy for Community Health Workers/Promotores: Highlights of

Opportunities and Strategies.”

The 24th Annual Midwest Stream

Farmworker Health Forum

Thursday evening’s Welcome Reception included a brief presentation by Dr. Esteban Lopez

from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas. Dr. Lopez presented “Harvesting the Fruit of Health

Care Reform: An Organic Approach” which gave participants a look into the Affordable Care

Act and how it is changing health care coverage for Texans across the state. Following

Dr. Lopez’ presentation, participants enjoyed live music, dancing, dinner, and networking

with colleagues from around the United States.

Friday included an information-packed day of 17 educational sessions. Participants chose

from a wide array of topics related to migrant and community health. The Keynote Address

Luncheon on Thursday was delivered by Pancho Arguelles. Pancho Arguelles is the director

of Living Hope Wheelchair Association, an organization of migrants with spinal cord injuries.

Pancho has been involved in popular education, immigrant rights movements, and

community organizing. Pancho delivered a powerful and motivating keynote address that

discussed building power among community members and how that is central in the process

of creating sustainable community engagement in our public health network. Friday evening,

participants were encouraged to relax and enjoy the beautiful city of San Antonio, TX.

Saturday morning plenaries included a working breakfast facilitated by Alicia Gonzales and

Hilda Bogue from the National Center for Farmworker Health. Through their expertise in

group facilitation, Alicia and Hilda engaged the participants in a highly interactive session that

identified, as a migrant and community health community, the challenges and barriers that

farmworkers encounter in accessing health care services. Strategies to overcome those

challenges and barriers were also provided in this session titled the “Wall of Wonder.”

Evaluations for this session revealed that 100% of participants felt the session content would

be helpful in improving their own work performance with Migrant and Seasonal

Farmworkers. Saturday’s morning plenary was closed with an always informative and

important session discussing the topic of immigration reform. Roger Rosenthal, Executive

Director at Migrant Legal Action, delivered the closing plenary “Immigration Reform on Hold:

What Do We Need to Know? How Do Health Centers Best Respond.”

Evaluation of the 2015 Midwest Stream Farmworker Health Forum revealed positive results

for all sessions and plenaries. Among the top-ranked sessions included: “The Three Essential

Core Competencies in Providing Healthcare Services,” “Improving the Safety and Health of

Hispanic Pesticide Workers & Living and Working in Agriculture - Case Report of Severe

Acute Illness in a Toddler Exposed to Pesticide,” “Connecting the Dots: My Work the 19

Health Center Program Requirements,” “Addressing Barriers to Health Care: Mobilizing

Behavioral Health Delivery in the Interest of prevention and Brief Intervention,” “The Road

to Good Health Toolkit for Promotores/as: Developed by the National Diabetes Education

Program Part 1 & 2,” to name only a few. Overall session evaluations revealed a score of

92.4% or higher. Evaluations also revealed that 11% of participants have been in the field of

migrant and community health for less than one year. Sessions provided an important

training opportunity for those new in the migrant and community health movement.

We sincerely thank all who were in attendance for making this year’s Midwest Stream

Forum one to remember. Special thanks to our sponsors, exhibitors, and presenters who

contributed to the success of the 2014 MWSF. We hope that participants found it as

exciting, rejuvenating, and educational as we did. Please Mark your calendar for next year’s

very special 25th Annual Midwest Stream Farmworker Health Forum to be held November

9th- November 11th in the “Land of Enchantment” Albuquerque, New Mexico.

PHOTOS

Roberta Ryder, CEO, NCFH, delivers the welcome to the

2014 MWSF. Also in photo: Mr. Carl Rush, Joe Gallegos,

LT Israel Garcia, and Dr. Seiji Hayashi

Dr. Hayashi discusses the commendable growth and accomplishments of the Migrant

and Community Health Care movement the last 50 years.

Carl Rush provided highlights of opportunities and strategies for Community Health Workers/Promotores during the opening plenary.

Alicia Gonzales- Wall of Wonder

Discussing strategies to overcome challenges and barriers farmworkers

face in receiving healthcare.

Moving and motivational keynote address from

Pancho Arguelles. “Mobility is criminalized for the poor, but the

rich have no limits/barriers.”