CollaborationCollaboration
"The REACH 2010 Coalition is a comprehensive grassroots effort to address the need for the prevention of diabetes... Migrant Health Promotion, as the lead organization, has done an exemplary job in pulling together a variety of organizations to address this challenge."
-Larry Rincones, Regional Director, Colonias Program, Center for Housing and Urban Development, Texas A&M University
Collaboration is an integral part of all of Migrant Health Promotion's work. To improve services and maximize limited resources, Migrant Health Promotion works with national, state and local service providers, community members and others. Together, Migrant Health Promotion and its collaborators improve the quality and availability of services, promote appropriate utilization of services and impact the health and well-being of underserved farmworkers and their communities.
Migrant Health Promotion has built successful relationships over many years of working closely with health care providers, academic institutions, religious institutions, community members and others. Collaborators serve as program consultants, apply jointly for funding, cross-train staff and Promotores and Promotoras, provide Technical Assistance expertise, provide and receive referrals and exchange health education materials and other resources. Such collaborations broaden the scope and impact of the programs and directly connect Migrant Health Promotion to key community leaders and organizations.
Examples of Migrant Health Promotion's collaborative work:
- Migrant Health Promotion is proud to be a Collaborative Agreement Awardee (CAA) through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). Other CAAs include Farmworker Health Services, Inc., Farmworkers Justice Fund, Migrant Clinicians Network, National Association of Community Health Centers, Inc., and the National Center for Farmworker Health. CAAs provide training and Technical Assistance to approximately 138 Migrant Health Grantees at over 500 delivery sites nationwide, in addition to numerous Community Health Grantees that serve migrant patients.
- The State of Michigan Camp Health Aide Program includes five Camp Health Aide Programs run in conjunction with federally-funded Migrant and Community Health Centers. Each health center implements its program independently, and Migrant Health Promotion provides overall supervision, training and support.
- Health information is often presented in Promotor(a) training programs by local health educators, providers or resource persons. Thus, local organizations gain needed exposure for their services and Promotores(as) become familiar with health issues and available resources while meeting key local service providers.
- Promotores(as) in Migrant Health Promotion's Nuestra Salud (our health) Program provide education and facilitate access to screening and treatment in the Rio Grande Valley. As a funded partner, Planned Parenthood of Hidalgo County provides free annual exams to uninsured women unable to pay for them.
- Migrant Health Promotion created a partnership with the University of Illinois at Chicago and Community Health Partnership to design and implement an eye health research project. Promotores(as), growers and Migrant Health Promotion staff collect data and provide safety glasses and education to workers. The University provides expertise in occupational health and analyzes the data.
- The REACH Promotora Community Coalition has demonstrated Migrant Health Promotion's willingness to share resources and lead mutually-beneficial, innovative programs. Migrant Health Promotion shares leadership of the Coalition, as well as funding, with six local and regional partners. Together, they have united over 200 active members to address diabetes in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas.
- The ground-breaking Texas Diabetes Education and Care Management Project jointly trains Promotores(as) and health care professionals to assist underserved Latino families in controlling their diabetes. The project involves Migrant and Community Health Centers throughout Texas and has an active steering committee, including both public and private partners.
