Greetings!
MCN's new monthly e-Newsletter, Network News, provides you with news and resources available from MCN and our partners. We welcome your feedback and/or suggestions for content. Please email Jillian Hopewell with your comments. |
UPCOMING EVENTS
MCN Partners in Global Immunization Initiative MCN Clinical Specialist, Jennie McLaurin, MD, MPH, has been invited to participate in the partners meeting of PROMOVAX, a 3-year project funded by the European Commission aiming to  promote vaccination among migrant populations. The March 3rd meeting will be held in Athens, Greece with the purpose of launching a process to develop immunization educational material for migrants and an immunization toolkit for health professionals caring for migrants. We will be providing additional information and resources from this meeting to all of you working with migrant populations in the United States and elsewhere. MCN welcomes this opportunity to further collaborate with global health partners to advance the cause of migrant health. MCN Sponsored Webinars for March
Care for the Whole Person: Integrating Behavioral Health and Primary CareWednesday, March 14, 12:00-1:00pm CST
Prestenters: Dr. Martha A. Medrano, MD, MPH, Director of Behavioral Health at CommuniCare Health Centers in San Antonio, TexasThe Nuts and Bolts of Cholinestrase Monitoring For Farmers, Ranchers and Agricultural WorkersWednesday, March 28, 12:00-1:00pm CST
Presenters: Matthew Keifer, MD, MPH, Dean Emanuel Endowed Chair/Director National Farm Medicine Center and Carolyn Sheridan, BSN, RN, Clinical Director of AgriSafe Network
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PROGRAM SPOTLIGHT
Hombres Unidos contra la Violencia Familiar
Interview with Adrian Velasquez, Coordinator of MCN's Hombres Unidos contra la Violencia Familiar Initiative
This month the spotlight shines on MCN's highly successful program, Hombres Unidos contra la Violencia Familiar which focuses on engaging Latino migrant men in Pennsylvania and Texas in violence prevention efforts.
 Adrian Velasquez, program coordinator, described the program as, "A sexual and intimate partner violence primary prevention initiative for men which is led by men." Promotores de salud familiar to the area recruit and facilitate a five session workshop with men. This workshop covers topics such as identifying types of violence and abuse, power, gender roles and male socialization. During the workshop, migrant men work together to understand violence and develop the skills and tools necessary to help prevent violence in their communities.
"My favorite part of the program," said Velasquez, "is to see the change in knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, behaviors by the men."
Velasquez said his ultimate vision for the program is to expand it into a more urban setting, where the program can be implemented with not only rural farmworkers but also other types of migrant men. Additionally he would like to see the program include adolescents either focusing on first or second generation migrant men.
For more information, visit the Hombres Unidos page on MCN's website.
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RECENT HAPPENINGS
Comic Books Available for a Limited Time!
MCN is partnering with National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA) Research Foundation to offer three educational pesticide comic books in Spanish. The comics are an effective way to disseminate health information to populations with limited formal education and are available free of charge.
 You can order copies for your organization via our online order form. Please visit our website for more pesticide related clinical tools and resources.
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| MCN Receives New Funding to Address Dairy Workers' Health and Safety
MCN is pleased to continue our strong partnerships with the NIOSH-funded Agricultural Safety and Health Centers. MCN is part of the newly created Upper Midwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center (UMASH) and is co-directing Seguridad en las lecherias, a project employing a culturally appropriate popular education model to bridge the gap in worker health and safety training in dairy production. The five-year project will develop and test a bilingual occupational safety and health intervention to reduce hazards and improve knowledge and practices among immigrant dairy workers in Wisconsin. UMASH is a collaboration of the National Farm Medicine Center, the University of Minnesota and the Minnesota Department of Health.
Visit www.umash.umn.edu for more information.
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Adolescent Farmworker Health and Safety Resources
MCN is also pleased to be part of a project from the Pacific Northwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center (PNASH) that builds on our clinical tools and trainings to address occupational health risks among adolescent agricultural workers in the Yakima Valley, WA region. The project will utilize MCN's web-based clinical training module addressing occupational health risks of adolescent farmworkers, which features MCN's Migrant Adolescent Farmworker Interactive Rapid Risk Assessment and Clinician Tool. Contact MCN staff member Amy Liebman for more information. |
| Linking Clinicians and Community Health Workers
MCN has been certified by the Texas Department of State Health Services as a sponsoring institution/training program to provide training to fulfill continuing education requirements for the Promotor(a) or Community Health Worker (CHW) Training and Certification Program. Additionally, Deliana Garcia, certified as a Community Health Worker Trainer, has been nominated to serve on the National AHEC Community Health Worker (CHW) Collaborative. The National AHEC Organization has partnered with the Amgen Foundation to create this working group as an innovative and collaborative response to addressing the training needs of the CWH workforce by bringing multiple entities to the table.
Click here for information on the Community Health Worker Training and Certification Program.
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Texas State Employee Charitable Campaign
 MCN recently participated in the 2011 Texas State Employee Charitable Campaign (SECC). The SECC is a fundraiser in which state employees can donate to charities/organizations of their choice tax-free, through a portion of their paychecks. MCN was honored to join over 100 local charities for this campaign. These contributions help improve the quality of life for people in our underserved communities throughout Texas, across the country and around the world. Click here to visit their website and like SECC on facebook.
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MCN Welcomes New Staff Members
We are pleased to announce the addition of two new Health Network Associates to our staff, Jessica Martinez and Alejandro Ahuja.
MCN has expanded into an office in downtown Salisbury, MD
Amy K. Liebman, MPA, Director of Environmental and Occupational Health, has been joined by Michael Piorunski who will focus on MCN's Environmental and Occupational Health efforts. MCN is excited about this transition as it positions us well to continue to grow and be a force for health justice for migrant and seasonal farmworkers and the mobile poor.
Location: 100 West Main Street, #206
Salisbury, MD 21801
Health Network Update
Health Network is currently managing 741 cases.
We are starting to schedule Health Network enrollment trainings for year 2012.
Call (512) 579-4508 to schedule training at your site today.
For weekly updates, please visit the Health Network page on MCN's website.
New Resources available from Text4Baby
Text4baby has new radio PSAs available in English and Spanish! These 60-second radio PSAs are a great way to get the message out to more mothers about text4baby and how to sign up. You can listen to and share the PSAs by visiting the Text4Baby download center. 
USEFUL LINKS
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