Overcoming the Cultural Clinical Practice Gap: Nursing Interventions for Metabolic Disorders in Latino Migrant Seasonal Farmworkers

Background:  Three million migrant seasonal farmworkers (MSFW) are employed by the United States agricultural industry and 72% of the MSFW are of Latino ethnicity (National Center for Farmworker Health, 2012). The extreme nature of the work of MSFW includes many potential dangers for injury and illness, and the nomadic and sporadic movement of workers and their families can be challenging for primary care providers and for the maintenance of a healthful lifestyle (Anthony, Martin, Avery, & Williams, 2010; Anthony, 2011).  In addition, the Latino MSFWs are subject of numerous barriers to accessing preventative and interventional health care including, but not limited to, cultural and linguistic/dialectical differences, distance/transportation, funding, stigma, and fears. Latino patients are sometimes not fully understood by the health care workers who service them.  Moreover, interventions often are not always culturally appropriate nor are they communicated or implemented in culturally sensitive methods for Latino population-specific needs.  Much research focuses on the job-related ailments of MSFW (skin cancers, organophosphate poisoning, etc.), there is little work that focuses specifically on culturally appropriate intervention for metabolic disorders in MSFW. Because of their ethnicity, Latino MSFW are a group that needs special attention and culturally sensitive approaches for nursing intervention and health education to achieve success with lifestyle interventions.  In order for nurses to be best enabled to address these culturally specific needs, they must possess a better understanding of the current knowledge and best practices.

Aims: The aim of this presentation is to explore the current status of academic and clinical research regarding Latino Migrant Seasonal Farmworkers specifically findings that impact culturally appropriate lifestyle modification, health education, and the nursing management of metabolic disorders.  Additionally, this presentation seeks to offer interactive case study examples featuring implementation of culturally appropriate patient education and intervention in Latino Migrant Seasonal Farmworker populations.