Two New Journal Articles Focus on Agricultural Workers, COVID-19, and Ways to Improve Health and Well-Being

Tue, 09/29/2020 | by MCN Admin

Farmworker harvest strawberries

Two new solutions-oriented article commentaries focused on farmworkers and COVID-19 were published this month in the Journal of Agromedicine special issue on the pandemic. Co-written by MCN staff, both articles reveal the complex realities that farmworkers are confronting as the COVID-19 pandemic and the shaky economy intensify preexisting social determinants of health.

Migrant Clinicians Network’s Amy Liebman, MPA, Ed Zuroweste, MD, and Claire Hutkins Seda partnered with Agrisafe Network’s Natalie Roy and infectious disease researcher Chad Roy, PhD, to write “Partnerships as an Avenue to Translate Emerging Disease Ecology of SARS-CoV-2 to Agricultural Groups.” In it, the authors describe how MCN and Agrisafe partnered with Dr. Roy to translate new data and research on COVID-19 into practical prevention strategies for those providing health services to farmworkers and farmers.

“Both MCN and Agrisafe Network are national stakeholders in agricultural health and it’s our job to translate science into practical prevention strategies for those on the front lines of providing health services to farmworkers and farmers.” said Liebman. “With COVID-19 and the stakes being so high, we leveraged our resources, networks, and knowledge to quickly get evidence-based information and solutions to our clinicians. The partnerships pursued and outlined in this article provide a blueprint for quickly translating emerging disease ecology to support the health of agricultural populations during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Agricultural worker's children s

In a second article, “The COVID-19 Impact on Childcare in Agricultural Populations,” MCN’s Amy Liebman and Kate Kruse joined co-authors Marsha Salzwedel, EdD, from the National Children’s Center for Rural and Agricultural Health and Barbara Lee from the Marshfield Research Institute’s National Children’s Center to detail the barriers that agricultural worker parents face to obtain childcare, and the repercussions of COVID-19 on this limitation.

“At a time where farmworkers are expected to continue working despite the high risk of infection, accessible childcare is needed now more than ever,” said Kruse. “By drawing attention to the severity to which COVID-19 affects this population, we hope to highlight how different stakeholders can work together to increase access to childcare and improve workplace safety for the farmworker community.”

MCN continues to push for better protection from COVID-19, improved working conditions, and increased access to resources for those in agriculture who are expected to continue to work, despite the increased risk of infection. MCN also works closely with clinicians who are providing health information and resources to agricultural workers. Learn more about some of our work here: