Immigrant-focused Medical Legal Partnerships: A Practical Innovation to Improve Immigrant Health and Social Well-being.

The Problem: Immigration status is an important social determinant of health that can limit access to health care and related services. Few medical legal partnerships (MLPs) address immigration-related legal needs of patients.

Purpose Of Article: An immigrant-focused MLP (IMLP) addresses immigration legal needs and provides advice to vulnerable patient-clients and their families regarding potential legal consequences of accessing health care and other public benefits.

Effectiveness of a community-driven, asthma intervention: project asthma in-home response.

Project Asthma In-home Response (AIR) is a multilevel, home-based intervention to address childhood asthma. This study aims to assess the effectiveness of the community-driven, multilevel Project AIR intervention. We hypothesize that children participating in the Project AIR intervention will have reduced asthma-related emergency room visits, hospitalizations, and asthma exacerbations.

Lead Toxicity and Environmental Health Justice Stories in Black and White Woodcut Portraits.

Background: Omaha, Nebraska, has a lead-contaminated superfund site and substandard housing that pose risks for childhood lead exposure. Healthy Housing Omaha (formerly, Omaha Healthy Kids Alliance), an environmental health nonprofit, partnered with the fourth author, an artist, and a newspaper to raise awareness about lead poisoning by publishing portraits and stories of affected community members.

Methods: The authors analyzed an interview with the artist, photographs of portraits published in a local newspaper, and quotations from portrait sitters.

Musculoskeletal Pain and Cardiovascular Risk in Hispanic/Latino Meatpacking Workers.

Background: Most meatpacking workers have pain affecting their back, arms, and/or wrists from work-related repetitive motions, forceful exertion, and awkward positioning. Chronic musculoskeletal pain is associated with obesity, hypertension, type II diabetes, heart attack, and stroke. Hispanic/Latino workers in the meatpacking industry are a vulnerable population; limited English, lack of health insurance, and fear of deportation often deter them from seeking care where preventable cardiovascular risks might be detected.

Health and Well-Being of Hispanic/Latino Meatpacking Workers in Nebraska: An Application of the Health Belief Model.

Background: Meatpacking is dirty, dangerous, and demanding work. In the United States, the industry predominately employs people from racial/ethnic minority backgrounds and immigrants, with 45% of the workforce identifying as Hispanic/Latino. Little is known about how the work environment affects worker engagement in health-promoting activities; however, occupational health professionals are uniquely positioned to advance worker health, safety, and general well-being.