|
News Releases
Arthritis Self-Management Project Featured in National Publications
Columbia, Mo. (Jan. 28, 2005) -Extra! Extra! Read all about it! Missouri's arthritis center is getting national press, no doubt about it!
A training project that disseminates information about arthritis prevention and arthritis self-management to 500 migrant health clinics through the National Center for Farmworker Health is featured in this month's issues of Farmworker News, a national publication offered in both English and Spanish, and Migrant Health Newsline, a national publication produced by the National Center for Farmworker Health. The project is part of the Missouri Arthritis Rehabilitation Research and Training Center's (MARRTC's) mission of improving the quality of life and promoting independent living among people with arthritis and arthritic conditions.
"Arthritis is the major cause of disability in the United States, but many in this country are largely unaware of the scope of the problem, especially for migrant and seasonal farmworkers who labor under strenuous circumstances and often have limited access to healthcare," says MARRTC Director Jerry Parker, who also serves as associate chief of staff for research at the Harry S Truman Memorial Veterans' Hospital. "Since disability is actually everyone's issue, our Center strives to raise awareness through proactive public dissemination initiatives. The recent national media coverage will target an audience which can greatly benefit from educational and self-management programs aimed at reducing arthritis disability."
Many migrant and seasonal farmworkers are either American citizens or working in the country legally, but do not have access to traditional health care services. Moreover, many of them are uninsured, and only one-fifth of them have access to basic health care at migrant health clinics throughout the country.
This training project uses "promotoras," or lay promoters to deliver information directly to migrant workers and translate the medical jargon into an understandable and culturally appropriate language.
Out of the three to five million people in the United States who work in the $28-million fruit and vegetable industry, about 85 percent of them are minorities including Hispanics, African-Americans, Jamaicans and Haitians. Half of migrant and seasonal farm workers live below the poverty threshold, and experts estimate that between 1 million and 1.7 million of them suffer from arthritis in one form or another. Ironically, those who need help most urgently are also the ones least likely to get proper care.
For information about MARRTC, call 1-800-995-8503 or visit its Web site at www.marrtc.org.
The Missouri Arthritis Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (MARRTC) was established in 1971 at the University of Missouri-Columbia Arthritis Center. MARRTC is funded by the U.S. Department of Education's National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (H133B031120) and is the only federally funded arthritis rehabilitation research and training center in the country.
As part of the MU Health Communication Research Center (HCRC), MARRTC's mission is to become a national leader in the areas of disability management and communication, improve the quality of life and promote independent living among people who have arthritis and arthritic conditions.
|
|
