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Description of Organization:
Migrant Health Promotion is a nonprofit organization, founded in 1983, that works to change the circumstances, processes and practices that have resulted in poor health for farmworkers and their communities and to improve health and human rights for generations to come. Migrant Health Promotion's approach to improving health is to train and support community members - Promotores and Promotoras - who educate and advocate for change. Promotores(as) integrate information about health and the health care system into the community's culture, language and value system, thus reducing many of the barriers to health services. The bulk of Migrant Health Promotion’s programmatic efforts are focused in migrant labor camps in Michigan and in the border colonias of South Texas. Programs focus on topics including diabetes prevention, health and nutrition for senior citizens, prenatal care for pregnant women, teen health, mental and behavioral health, environmental health, substance abuse prevention and children’s health.

Description of project:
Youth from two farmworker communities in Michigan will be trained as peer health educators and advocates, called Teen Health Aides. The Teen Health Aides will work to improve their own knowledge, attitudes and behaviors, while also informing and educating their peers about HIV/AIDS, mental health and stigma, sexually transmitted infections, substance abuse, occupational health and harm reduction. The Teen Health Aides will also inform and educate local health providers regarding barriers preventing migrant farm worker adolescents from accessing preventive services. Through innovative community collaborations, (including peer education, health provider training, service events and referrals), the Teen Health Aides, staff and health care providers will work to reduce the cultural and linguistic barriers that limit access to care and to improve farmworkers’ utilization of health services.. The Teen Health Aides will partner with Northwest Michigan Health Services, Inc. and Health Delivery, Inc., two migrant and community health centers serving the migrant farmworker population.