Crack cocaine use in rural migrant populations: living arrangements and social support

Correlates of crack cocaine use were studied among a targeted sample of migrant workers and their sexual partners (n = 571) in rural Southern Florida. Employment among men and recent drug-user treatment among men and women are positively related to crack use, as is involvement in crime and prostitution. Among women but not men, living with children is negatively related to crack use. Drug use and HIV prevention programs should intervene with individuals and their families and social groups. Migrant workers and their sexual partners also need effective drug-user treatment with long-term relapse prevention services.

Use of ethnography in the evaluation and targeting of HIV/AIDS education among Latino farm workers

Ethnography can be utilized to assess the impact of HIV/AIDS education simultaneous with the implementation of program activities. An ethnographic analysis based on field methods adapted in a Michigan program that targets migrant farmworkers highlights responses to showings of a bilingual AIDS education video; the things to which migrants attend while they are interacting with the educator and each other in HIV education presentations; the tactics they employ to direct discussion when talking about HIV/AIDS, and the manner in which they use language to "distance" themselves from the topic of HIV infection and AIDS. Migrants in Michigan experience the same risks to health as farmworkers in other states; their pay is low, their hours are long, and the time they spend in the state is seasonal (summer). They engage in risk behavior while in the state (primarily consensual/contracted sex). Some migrants through use of drugs may come closer to exposure to the HIV virus outside the state than when they are working as migrants in Michigan.

Review of a health fair screening program in Mid-Michigan

Using sociodemographic data and findings from an evaluation survey, a Mid-Michigan health fair screening program is reviewed over a seven year period (1981-1987). Most participants were older adults, and nearly two-thirds were women. Very few participants named the media as a reason for attending the health fairs at which the screenings were given. Many had seen a physician within the past two years, yet very few reported that they had had a complete check-up. The implications of these findings and a rationale for health fairs as a mechanism for screening are discussed.