On Friday morning, July 14, Augusta University students from several programs partnered together to host an 18th annual International Health Outreach Fair at Costa Layman Farms, located in South Carolina’s Trenton.
Primarily sponsored by AU’s College of Nursing, this long-standing program provides yearly healthcare access to hundreds of farmworkers, who experience tremendous disparity common for those residing in rural areas – especially in the Latino population due to multiple barriers, such as language, finance and health literacy.
“Over time this has developed into a very comprehensive program of outreach that has even led to some international connections through the farming industry; so, it’s been very engaging,” said Pamela Cromer, a lead health clinic organizer and a professor at the College of Nursing. “That’s what nursing is really good for. We can build relationships with these populations and get them to trust us. It’s been demonstrated this year in particular, because we have an 85% response rate of the farm workers coming together to receive the health services we provide.”
Bill Strong, director of Augusta University’s Center for Bioethics and Health Policy, said he used to be involved with the clinic outreach program back in 2012, when it first began thanks to grants that amounted to $50,000 from the Medical College of Georgia and Augusta University Health. Starting out as quite large but very spread out, Strong said the program has grown tremendously over the years, and he believes it is incredibly important to uplift immigrants and provide them with quality health insurance since they often “get the short end of the stick.”
“This gives our students, who are a majority of the time in acute care settings, an opportunity for that primary care, prevention side,” said Tanya Sudia, dean of the College of Nursing. “It helps them to see what can be done in the communities, and in this case help ensure a healthy workforce for our farming employers.”
According to a news release from the university, the Costa Layman Health model serves as a banner for ongoing AU public health efforts, while teaching students how to work as a collective team to provide lifesaving, precautionary healthcare tips. Electrolyte and water intake, sunscreen usage and even aspects of a proper diet were among the various preventive measures communicated to rural workers at the health clinic.
“One of the reasons we want to do this is because of the lack of access to healthcare for these employees out here, but also because these employees are multi-national; so, they might not get the same very quick access that we as Americans have, and this company wants to provide that for their employees,” said nursing student Jeffrey Clark. “Basically what we’re doing out here is bringing the hospital to the community.”
Clark said he thought it was especially important for healthcare students to be involved in a hands-on way, because it teaches them about the health problems and disparities within their own community.
“I believe as nurses we need to know the community we’re going to be serving one day,” he said. “If we aren’t aware of what is around us then how can we truly do our job to the best of our ability?”
Clark said this clinic was made possible through AU’s interdisciplinary actions, which has allowed the multiple stations to provide several important examinations – including: dental check-ups, height and weight for body mass index, skin cancer screenings, physical as well as respiratory therapists, and even nutritionists.
“We got nurses taking blood pressures and doing blood draws, over here is EKG (electrocardiogram) readings, and we have interpreters for all this stuff,” he said. “I think these are all just really great resources that we’re providing for them.”
For workers being exposed to harsh summer elements all day, every day of the work week, Sudia said skin cancer prevention was one of the most important aspects being talked about with the attendees.
“Helping them find additional ways to help protect their skin and recognize early signs of treatment and intervention is crucial,” said Sudia.
Attending employee Eduardo Sanchez said he was extremely grateful to AU and to work for Costa Farms, because both prioritized the workers’ health and encouraged them to participate in the event.
“It’s important for all benefits; they are illnesses that we don’t know we have, and now we might just know about them before it’s too late, ” he said. “Like cancer, there are things we can detect early on and then we won’t have to suffer so much … they tell us if we are overweight too, and that is all very important to know. Maybe we need to diet.”
Sanchez said a lot of the time he and his fellow workers do not entirely understand the health problems, but that having healthcare professionals come and educate them about different diseases and sicknesses allows them to protect themselves against the unforgivable hot weather.
“It’s very important that they invite us and tell us to come year after year,” he said. “It’s as important for the company as it is for the workers; for them, it is better if they keep us healthy, and that way we also feel that we are really important to the company, and that they really care for us too.”
