Abstract

PIP: This report utilizes data collected in a 1986 sample survey of 329 adult (18 to 50 years old) migrant farmworkers in Colorado to determine their health needs, health services utilization, and overall access to care. Health needs include selected indices of medical, dental, nutrition, and reproductive health. About 1/4 of the population had no usual source of health care. Upstream states such as Colorado are responsible as the primary providers of health services for those who either have no source of health care at their home base or experience a variety of barriers in their attempts to access services. Women are most likely to have had a medical visit over the past 12 months and are more likely to have experienced hospitalization. Unfortunately, although their contact with medical professionals is more frequent, the family planning needs of women are not being met. A large disparity exists between ideal family size and number of pregnancies and live births. The findings of this survey document the inferior health status of the migrant farmworker population in Colorado. Hunger, poverty, and environmental hazards increase the risk of illness, while at the same time, barriers to care often prevent migrants from accessing needed health services. Recommendations include 1) promoting and funding family planning and reproductive health services for migrant farmworker women and their partners, 2) incorporating trained family planning promoters in the migrant health delivery system, 3) maintaining successful models of restorative dental care for adults, 4) increasing access to services in nontraditional settings, 5) increasing use of ancillary personnel to provide services, especially dental services, 6) maintaining outreach programs in the available food programs, and 7) encouraging migrant health programs to provide leadership in the development of alternative food sources.