Migrant and Seasonal Farmworker Descriptive Profiles Project Executive Summary

To address the critical need for relevant information about the Migrant and Seasonal Farmworker (MSFW) population nationwide, the Migrant Clinicians Network developed an innovative project to test a set of methodologies for collecting and analyzing MSFW data. The methods used in this project will enhance planning capability for health services by gathering up-to-date, locally specific descriptive profiles of the MSFW population eligible for health care services and provide a mechanism to determine future trends that can affect health services delivery and formulation of health care plans, staffing decisions, outreach activities, preventive care emphases, budgeting and appropriate service hours. The methodologies tested employ systems that can be self-sustaining, providing continual, timely updates at a local level where such information is most useful. The systems foster collaboration between local service providers, encouraging Migrant Health Centers (MHCs) and others who serve the MSFW population to work together to share information which can be beneficial to all.