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/