Using cell phones for longitudinal health intervention-evaluation and emergency preparedness among migrant farmworkers

Issues: Migrant farmworkers are a vital component of the United States agricultural industry and as a result, are exposed to a number of environmental health risks. Low wages and lack of insurance, exacerbated by cultural, legal, geographic and structural barriers, present unique challenges to longitudinal evaluation research of health interventions designed to improve access to health services for farmworkers. Description: Focus groups were conducted with migrant farmworkers across four counties in North Carolina to better understand if cell phones could be used to facilitate access to healthcare services. Preliminary data on how farmworkers viewed cell phone use as a possible means of communication between themselves and health service providers, outreach workers and local advocacy organizations were gathered. Additionally, information regarding preferences on which ways to best communicate with farmworkers, how often, and what types of messages farmworkers would be most interested in receiving, was collected. Lessons learned: The majority of farmworkers either own or share cell phones, and at the very least are familiar with cell phone technology. Although farmworkers primarily use phones to remain in touch with family, they are interested in and would support an intervention that uses Multimedia Messaging Services that allow them to remain in touch with health care providers and outreach workers, as well as to receive message alerts promoting environmental health protections and emergency warnings regarding the weather. Recommendations: These findings have implications for the conduct of public health interventions with migrant farmworkers through the use of mobile technology.