Week 5 Response

At the end of this weeks reading, one thing really stood out to me above all else: the absence of migrant farm workers input in the healthcare of migrant farm workers. The system as it stands now fails to include them in the process of designing the system or in the delivery of their care. As the article puts it, little data exists "on the health services that farmworkers want, or on their assessments of the health services they do receive." Its no surprise then that the current system is failing this population; we don't even know the basics of what they need. I can't help but wonder why this is the case.

I can think of several reasons why this might be the case. I must preface by noting that I am not an expert and that these statements are not based on research, just my gut instinct. I think one of the underlying reasons for this lack of inclusion is the confidence of the medical world. All doctors spend years educating themselves and spend years memorizing how to treat thousands of conditions. I feel like this is the same approach doctors take to fixing every problem. They feel like they know the answer, or at least they can figure it out, because thats exactly what medical school is like. They are responsible for finding a cure and fixing the problem. In the case, of migrant farmworkers, this approach clearly isn't working. In addition, I think the additional work required to include farmworker opinion in the healthcare approach is a deterrent. The work already has very little incentive for doctors; putting in a tremendous amount of additional work to include farmworkers in the process simply won't happen. Its obvious that this needs to be changed; the voice of the workers needs to be heard. Maybe this is a role for undergrads like ourselves to fill...