Date of News Release: Friday, January 20, 2006

The 2005 harvest season proved to be a great success for the Migrant Farmworker Healthcare Utilization Study. Through personal interviews with farmworkers, this project aims to collect information about occupational injuries and illnesses, as well as farmworkers’ knowledge of available health care resources. NYCAMH research team members and data collectors visited camps throughout the Finger Lakes Region of New York. Surveys were conducted with 550 farmworkers on 69 residence camps from August to November of 2005. Seventy-five percent of all farmworkers approached took part in the survey. The results are currently being analyzed, and we hope to have preliminary reports in the spring.

We would like to extend our sincere gratitude to the dedicated data collectors, farm owners, and farmworkers who cooperated with NYCAMH for this phase of the project. We look forward to continued study success for the 2006 harvest season, which will be concentrated in Maine.