![[ Visit Client Website ]](images/banner.gif)
According to the National Center for Farmworker Health, Inc. in 2006 Hispanics “represented about 13 percent of the U.S. population...but accounted for 18 percent of the total number of new HIV/AIDS cases” (NCFH, 2009). Latino migrant workers who are at high -risk for HIV/AIDS infection are often difficult to target with prevention programs. This is because they tend not to live in the same place for long, are not fluent in English, are often fearful of deportation, and may have co-occurring behaviors (such as alcoholism) that puts them at high-risk for HIV/AIDS infection (i.e. engage in unprotected sex, or unclean needle exchanges). Migrants shown to be at risk continue to grow in population size (Deren, Shedlin, & Decena, 2005). In addition, very few culturally competent studies address service delivery gap issues related to Spanish-Speaking migrants. This study aims to advance our scientific understanding of effective health literacy intervention projects for this population in order to prevent and treat the issues arising from high-risk behavior that can lead to HIV/AIDS infection rates.
Methods
During the summer of 2014, focus groups were held with Spanish-speaking migrant workers in Lenawee County. Eighty-three (83) people participated in eight (8) focus groups, 53 men, 30 women. Ages ranged from 18 to 70. Focus groups occurred in migrant camps, community agency rooms, and homes. All focus groups were conducted in Spanish and digitally recorded. Focus groups were transcribed and coded. To achieve inter-rater reliability, interviews were coded by four members of the research team. After the code book was developed, the team created themes that emerged (inductive analysis).
Results
During open-ended interviews the concept of work as one main area of concern emerged in regards to how migrants understood, conceptualized and prioritized their health care needs. The importance of understanding the cultural significance of work as a tool for health literacy became a salient moment. Three overall themes emerged including (1) Primacy of Acquiring Work; (2) Perception of Health Care as Impediment and (3) Familial Care.
Implications
The conception of work for Spanish-speaking migrant workers is significant in creating and understanding culturally competent health interventions. As migrants look at their lived realities through the lens of work it is then important to design interventions that use the cultural nuances of these perceptions to improve care and sustain access to health resources. Using moments of discovery such as this will allow the main aim of the project, to use mobile technology, to improve health literacy with the highly mobile population of migrant workers. This project builds on existing community partnerships to create an intervention. We hope to improve models of migrant health literacy about HIV prevention, treatment and other culturally relevant health issues.