"The REACH [Promotora Community] 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 program participants
• provide technical assistance expertise
• provide and receive referrals
• 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 National Cooperative Agreement Awardee (CAA) through the Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA) Bureau of Primary Health Care’s Office of Minority and Special Populations.  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.  Collectively known as the Farmworker Health Network, these CAAs provide training and Technical Assistance to approximately 157 Migrant Health Grantees at over 500 delivery sites nationwide, in addition to numerous Community Health Grantees that serve migrant patients. Farmworker Health Network: Key Resources for Migrant Health

• The State of Michigan Camp Health Aide Program included five Camp Health Aide Programs run in conjunction with federally-funded Migrant and Community Health Centers. Each health center implemented its program independently, and Migrant Health Promotion provided overall supervision, training and support.

• Program staff worked with the Michigan Department of Community Health and with members of the Michigan Multicultural Tobacco Prevention Network to identify barriers and smoking cessation strategies appropriate for Michigan’s multicultural communities.   A copy of the findings is available here. http://www.tobaccofreemichigan.org/pdf/MCNSmokingCessationReport.pdf

• 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.

• From 2006 to early 2009, Migrant Health Promotion implemented the Nuevas Avenidas program in conjunction with partners Hope Family Health Center and Tropical Texas Behavioral Health. The program established and maintained new access routes to integrate primary, preventative and behavioral health care for medically underserved community members.  The program combined health promotion; peer health education and advocacy; accessible, culturally competent health care; and community organizing within targeted colonias in the Lower Rio Grande Valley region of South Texas.  In 2009, the Futuros Saludables (Healthy Futures) Program was initiated. While continuing the Nuevas Avenidas emphasis on integrated primary, preventative and behavioral health care, Futuros Saludables also includes nutrition and physical fitness education. Consortium members bring a mobile clinic and counselors directly to rural colonias. In this new collaboration, Promotoras and health care providers will increase health care and health education focused on overall wellness and prevention.

• Promotores(as) in Migrant Health Promotion's Amor de Madre Program provide continuous physical, emotional and informational support to mothers before, during and just after birth; and/or provide emotional and practical support during the postpartum period. In addition, Migrant Health Promotion Promotora doulas partner with the March of Dimes to provide information on a healthy diet for mother and child through the Comenzando Bien curriculum. The doulas also cooperate with the Texas Department of Transportation to provide car safety tips for family transportation.

• 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 collected data and provided safety glasses and education to workers. The University provided expertise in occupational health and analyzed the data.

• The REACH Promotora Community Coalition demonstrated Migrant Health Promotion's willingness to contribute resources and lead mutually-beneficial, innovative programs. Migrant Health Promotion shared leadership of the Coalition, as well as funding, with six local and regional partners. Together, they united over 200 active members to address diabetes in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas.  Participants increased their intake of vegetables and fruits, made positive changes in milk consumption and walking habits, and health centers increased the number of diabetes-related tests.

• Migrant Health Promotion is part of the Community Diabetes Project.  Together, with the Texas Diabetes Council, they jointly train Promotores(as) and health care professionals to assist underserved Latino families in controlling their diabetes. The project is funded through the Texas Department of State Health Services, which involves Migrant and Community Health Centers throughout Texas.

• Staff and Teen Health Aides participating in Infórmate for Teen Health collaborate with local health centers to improve the cultural competence of professionals that work with adolescent migrant farmworkers and to improve access to care for this population of teens.  Teen Health Aides train health care providers, and together they offer annual Youth Health Nights to the farmworker community.

Contact Us