The global migration of vulnerable populations influenced by both safety and economic factors in their home countries has developed into opportunities for interdisciplinary healthcare approaches to emerge in Jupiter, Florida. South Florida has a plethora of cultures. The My Clinic health project represented will describe a successful interdisciplinary care model implemented to care for undocumented Guatemalans within a local community. The undocumented workers in Jupiter are primarily from Jacaltenango, a valley town in the Huehuetenango region of the Western Highlands in Guatemala. The initial migration patterns began in the 1980’s when political asylum and safety drove Guatemalans to South Florida ("El Sol," 2013) with migration centralizing to Jupiter, Florida during a period of economic growth. Jupiter has a 16% population of Hispanics with 10% of Hispanics assumed to be 200% below the poverty line. The El Sol Center came to existence in 2006 with concerned community leaders and the workers participating in solutions to benefit all persons residing in the village ("El Sol," 2013). In the period of a decade, the El Sol Center has developed a multifaceted approach to meet the needs of the vulnerable within the community. Fueled by interdisciplinary support of the healthcare community, El Sol has evolved to include My Clinic designed to meet the primary healthcare for the Guatemalan community in tandem with low income people in the local geographic area. El Sol has implemented programs utilizing educated community healthcare trainers, implemented ongoing educational classes, provides language, literacy and educational programs, and intersects successful nutrition programs including a community garden. Interdisciplinary collaboration is defined as “an interpersonal process characterized by healthcare professionals from multiple disciplines with shared objectives, decision-making, responsibility, and power working together to solve patient care problems” (Petri, 2010, p. 80). The successful interdisciplinary El Sol Center and healthcare aspect of My Clinic, will be presented and analyzed using the Life Course Theory (LCT). The LCT model includes three aspects for clinicians including 1) a whole-family, whole- community approach addressing social determinants of health, 2) to address early upstream determinants of health, and 3) participate in longitudinal, vertical, horizontal integration of services within medical and other service sectors (Fine and Kotelchuck, 2010). The development of My Clinic in 2013 was a natural progression of El Sol services developing longitudinally from identified needs amongst the population. Careful analysis and statistics of healthcare referrals grew annually and provided an impetus to consider developing a primary care clinic. A whole community approach was used with an interdisciplinary team inclusive of community leaders, insurance providers, physicians, Jupiter Medical Center, community volunteers, and El Sol directors. My Clinic focuses on primary care and health promotion, and disease prevention recognizing the economic impact of the services on the local community overall. The successful implementation of My Clinic resulted from the integration of healthcare services coupled with local foundation funding, volunteer advanced nursing and medical care, collaboration with the county health department, medical center, and social services. The model demonstrates longitudinal, vertical, and horizontal integration of services with multiple service sectors. Interprofesional collaboration remains a focus for nursing to impact population health (AACN, 2004). Globalization and migratory patterns presents unique opportunities for nurses within the local community of Jupiter, Florida. The role of nursing at the My Clinic includes nurse educators and volunteers, advanced nurse practitioners providing primary care, diabetes educators, and nursing within specialties at medical centers, and medical specialty locations. Information gleaned from the implementation of the El Sol center and presented from the Life Course Theory approach may be used by nurses worldwide in caring for a diverse migratory and vulnerable population.
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