Challenges to farmworkers' health at the US-Mexico border

The University of Arizona collaborated with two community-based organizations to conduct a comprehensive health survey of farmworkers in three border agricultural communities at the US-Mexico Border. The instruments, adapted from the California Agricultural Workers Health Survey (CAWHS) and the Border-Immigration Interaction Survey include modules on stressors related to border residence and on the relation of border residence to health care-seeking behavior. A random household survey of 300 farmworkers living in the study area, and a shorter opportunistic survey of 200 farmworkers employed in agriculture in the border area were conducted in fall-spring 2006-2007. Survey results are contributing to a health risk profile of the local farmworker population, and are being compared with results from the CAWHS to identify similarities and differences between these populations. Analysis of the survey data especially examines relationships between the characteristics of border residence and the experience of stressors such as depression and stress, and relationships between the characteristics of border residence and access to health services. The presentation will describe these findings and results of subsequent group interviews designed to explore the study questions in greater depth, particularly regarding stress and anxiety, and the shifting presence of immigration law enforcement and military entities at the border. A discussion will also be included regarding the process of community forums held in the study municipalities to disseminate survey results and engage the community in interpretation of the findings and on engaging community members to join the study team in generating hypotheses appropriate for a large-scale policy intervention.