State health officials establish bilingual hotline for seasonal workers
(CBS DETROIT) - The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services has launched a new bilingual hotline for the state's migrant workers and their families.
Individuals can reach the MDHHS Farmworker Hotline by calling the toll-free number 1-833-SIAYUDA (1-833-742-9832). Si ayuda means "yes help" or "yes assistance" in Spanish.
The purpose of the hotline is for migrant workers to have access to health-related matters, such as information about the COVID-19 vaccine.
Over two-thirds of the 90,000 migrant and seasonal farmworkers and their families have limited English language proficiency, according to the University of Michigan's "Fair Housing Access, Affordability, and Quality for Michigan Farmworkers During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond" study.
"We aim to make health care in Michigan client-centered, which includes providing information in the person's primary language when available to ensure timely health services," said Dwayne Haywood, senior deputy director of the MDHHS Economic Stability Administration. "The Farmworker Hotline is a translation tool to help keep farmworkers healthy and reduce health-related work absences that could result in loss of earnings needed to support their families."
The hotline is funded by the CDC.
According to the MDHHS, the hotline will be answered by its Migrant Affairs staff, who are fluent in English and Spanish.
They will answer questions about vaccines and connect farmworkers to vaccine clinics and resources, make referrals to local offices and assist them with any other health-related information.
A translation service will be available for information in languages other than English and Spanish.
"Ultimately, the goal of the MDHHS Farmworker Hotline is to help Michigan provide bilingual residents with tools to prevent disease, improve health outcomes and increase well-being," according to the MDHHS. "Hotline information distribution is being provided to all Michigan local offices serving migrant and seasonal farmworkers, partner agencies, and through social media."