The Affordable Care Act is changing the scene for health care across the country.  Here in Maine, there have also been changes to qualifications for MaineCare and other public benefits; some of which pertain specifically to immigrants.  The Maine Migrant Health Program is currently working on an outreach project to share information with farmworkers through support of the Maine Health Access Foundation (MeHAF).  This past summer we took our message on the road to hold informational meetings across the state from the broccoli harvest to the blueberry fields.  Check out MeHAF’s blog posting, “Reaching More Maine People” to learn about our project called “¡REinFORMA!” 

Thank you to the Maine Health Access Foundation for funding this important initiative!  We are proud to be continuing our work in 2012, along with 10 other nonprofits in Maine.

This research is based on the idea that health and sickness are internal concepts within a culture, and in order to understand them we need to look at their relation with the political and social factors that condition human relations.  According to our data, the reasoning behind what a person considers heath and sickness and how they view and access the health services available to them reflects various elements of their lives. The findings show that relocating to Maine, and assuming the social condition of being an immigrant plays a significant part in the workers’ social behavior and their overall wellness.  Cultural beliefs and knowledge have a great influence on their perceptions of health and their decisions of whether to seek health care and treatment for illnesses.

To see more of Fabiola’s findings, click here to read the full report.