Communities in eastern Coachella Valley, who speak Spanish and Purépecha, are in dire need of information about COVID-19. 

A medical anthropologist at the UC Riverside School of Medicine is spearheading an outreach effort to educate the communities about social distancing.

 

The outreach efforts focus on Thermal, Oasis, North Shore, and Mecca — unincorporated communities primarily home to Latino immigrant farm workers.

 

Ann Cheney, an assistant professor in UCR’s Department of Social Medicine, Population, and Public Health, and her team are focusing on the Oasis Trailer Park that is home to about 200 families.  

 

The outreach effort at the park began three weeks ago. The pamphlets being distributed provide info on the outbreak of COVID-19 and how to prevent its spread.

 

Cheney and her team are working with “promotoras” to disseminate the information. 

“We are also sharing it on social media,” she said. “The pamphlets include information on how to social distance.”

 

Cheney is also reaching out to farmworkers in eastern Coachella Valley. One of the promotoras works in the fields and has been able to disseminate the pamphlets directly to farmworkers. Another has provided updates based on the people and families she meets.  

“We learned that field managers have informed workers that if they have symptoms, they need to get tested and show proof that they do not have coronavirus,” Cheney said. “We learned, too, that those who do not have legal status are too afraid to disclose they have symptoms.”