Migrant Clinicians Network: Championing Health Equity in New Journal Article

Migrants face significant and overlapping barriers to access health care, and when they do manage to attain care, their clinicians often struggle to meet their unique needs. For 40 years, Migrant Clinicians Network has actively pushed to reduce structural barriers by creating practical solutions that enable migrants to access high-quality, culturally responsive health care, and equipping clinicians to provide that care. In a new journal article published in the Journal of the National Hispanic Medical Association, Migrant Clinicians Network authors describe modern migration in the United States, discuss the demographics and health needs of migrants, and lay out the key methods that MCN utilizes to meet migrants’ health needs.

“MCN is dedicated to ensuring that migrant and immigrant communities receive the health care and support they need to thrive," said Kim Nolte, MPH, Chief Executive Officer for Migrant Clinicians Network and a co-author of the journal article. “Our work is more important than ever. The danger of the climate crisis, layered with social, economic, and political changes, is pushing record numbers of people to migrate. These migrants face increased health risks while they migrate and after they arrive, and decreased access to health care even when desperately needed."

The open-access article entitled “Migrant Clinicians Network: Championing Health Equity” outlines six avenues by which MCN responds to migrant health needs:

1) Building health provider capacity, through training and technical assistance and other educational offerings;

2) Our virtual case management program, Health Network, which connects with migrants directly to help them find health care at their next location;

3) Culturally responsive and linguistically appropriate resource development;

4) Community engagement and empowerment, including building local capacity through hyperlocal community-based campaigns;

5) Research and evaluation to expand understanding of migrant needs and effective solutions; and

6) Advocacy, which is woven throughout MCN efforts.
 

The article is one of three written by MCN authors in the special edition focused on migrant health. “Case Study: Urgent Medical Care for Asylum-Seeking Infant at US-Mexico Border” describes the complicated multistate efforts facilitated by MCN’s Specialty Care Access Network to find urgent and specialty care for a 22-month-old child with the rare Carvajal’s syndrome. “The Climate Migrant: Health Risks Before, During, and After Migration” helps readers understand the various ways in which the climate crisis overlaps with and amplifies the need for and the dangers inherent in migration. 

“It is gratifying to see Migrant Clinicians Network’s expertise in migration, case management for migrants, and the climate-migration intersection called upon for this special issue,” said Claire Seda, Director of Communications for Migrant Clinicians Network and a co-author on all three articles. “Migration is complex and rapidly changing, as we mention in the articles, and our forward-thinking, community-centered approach is needed to meet the needs of migrants, both now and into the future.”