Farmworker Research Published
Dr. Misun Hur’s research about H-2A migrant farmworker’s housing isolation and its impacts on mental health and quality of life is published* in the Journal of Rural Mental Health, published by the American Psychological Association. Partnered with the Association of Mexicans in North Carolina (AMEXCAN), this paper is a small achievement of several years of intense community-engaged research, including numerous labor camp visits to build trusts with promotoras, public and professional presentations for public awareness, months of digging into farmworker databases, and more. The research was sponsored by the ECU Division of Research, Economic Development, and Engagement as an Interdisciplinary Research Award with Dr. Katharine W. Didericksen. Co-authored by Dr. Katharine W. Didericksen, Dr. Bumseok Chun, Dr. Roberta Ballamy, and Juvencio Rocha-Peralta.
Hur meeting farmworkers with the community partners
The H-2A migrant farmworkers are integral to U.S. agriculture. The US regulates that growers must provide housing (labor camps) and transportation for their H-2A workers. Farmworkers are often isolated since the housing or labor camps are in rural areas and frequently near farming fields. A farmworker Hur interviewed noted,“what I really want to have is the knowledge of services in the area. I have come back to the same farm for over 10 years, but I have no idea what are out there.” The primary purpose of this research was to use structural equation modeling (SEM) to explore migrant farmworkers’ visibility as it relates to their access to resources, quality of life, and mental health. The paper suggested that H-2A might farmworkers’ mental health to worsen when labor camps are hidden from the road (physically isolated from society). When farmworkers felt they had poor access to various societal resources (perceptually isolated from society), their mental health and life/community satisfaction decreased significantly. The paper proposed several implications for policymakers, growers, and public health service providers.
AMEXCAN promotoras interacting with farmworkers during the fieldwork
*Hur, M., Didericksen, K. W., Chun, B., Bellamy, R. W., & Rocha-Peralta, J. (2024). H-2A migrant farmworkers’ housing visibility and mental health in eastern North Carolina. Journal of Rural Mental Health. Online first at https://doi.org/10.1037/rmh0000275
**The banner image is owned by Scott Temple, a good friend of Hur and a co-director of the documentary film, At a Stranger’s Table. “With tensions high on immigration control, the time is right to introduce the North Carolina east coast migrant field worker to the United States consumer of produce.” (from the film synopsis)