The Camp Health Aide Program, Migrant Health Promotion's original program model, trains farmworkers as Promotores and Promotoras, or Camp Health Aides, within migrant labor camps and communities. Farmworker men and women are recruited to participate in an initial, intensive training for two or three weeks and then continue to meet weekly as a group and individually with the Program Coordinator for the rest of the season. These Promotores(as) offer their peers health education, support and direct links to Migrant and Community Health Centers and to other community-based services.

"We [farmworkers] come all the way up here to work . . . seven days a week, all the daylight hours. We need all the health education we can get out here because we can't take the time to go, and we have no idea where places are [Health Centers and other services]."-Graciela Camarena, Program Specialist and former Promotora

Results

Promotores(as) at five Migrant and Community Health Centers in Michigan ensured that 100 percent of the identified pregnant farmworker women in their camps were referred for or received prenatal care in 2005. In comparison, in 2007, only 66.8 percent of Hispanic women in Michigan accessed timely prenatal care.¹

LEARN MORE about how our programs are improving health outcomes.

Materials

Migrant Health Promotion offers free and low-cost materials and tools designed to support Camp Health Aide Programs (downloadable under the Materials & Tools section).

Camp Health Aide Program Overview

Camp Health Aide Implementation Guide

Camp Health Aide Manual

Camp Health Aide "Teaching Notes"

Evaluation Toolkit for Promotor(a) de Salud Programs

Profile

Marisol Luevano, Promotora

Awards

• Models That Work, sponsored by the Bureau of Primary Health Care and partners
• National Council of La Raza, Maternal and Child Health News, Successful Program Award, sponsored by National Council of La Raza
• Exemplary Program Award, sponsored by the Michigan Department of Community Health

View a complete list of Migrant Health Promotion's Awards & Honors.

Stories from the Program

• Maria Rangel, Promotora in the Camp Health Aide Program, learned that a young woman from her camp was pregnant, but had not received any prenatal care. Maria explained to the woman what to expect in prenatal care and how important it is to receive timely care. The woman said that she was afraid to seek care because it would be expensive. Maria helped her apply for Medicaid to cover the cost of prenatal care and for the Women, Infants and Children Supplemental Nutrition Program (WIC). The Medicaid office rejected the woman's first application because the grower refused to complete the income forms. Maria worked with the woman and her husband, the grower and the Medicaid office until Medicaid benefits were approved. Maria helped the woman schedule her prenatal appointments at the local Migrant and Community Health Center, followed up with her when she missed appointments and accompanied her to the doctor to translate. She also shared pictures and brochures with the woman and explained to her what happens during pregnancy. The woman went on to deliver a healthy baby girl. The following year, Maria recommended her for the Camp Health Aide Program, and the proud new mother began using her experience to help other families!

• One Camp Health Aide in Michigan saved her granddaughter’s life with training she learned in her program.  One day two-year-old Luisa was eating a hot dog in her camp when she began to choke.  Upon seeing Luisa turn blue, her mother ran to find her own mother, the Camp Health Aide.  Using her training in the Heimlich maneuver, which she had learned just the week before, she was able to save Luisa from choking to death. Nobody else in the camp knew the maneuver.

References