An exploratory descriptive study of farmworker human service providers: Stigma, empathy and immigration attitudes

American farmworkers face a range of social injustices that include barriers to mental health care and shifts in immigration policies. A resurgence of restrictionist immigration polices has created much debate and have restricted human services to immigrant farmworkers. The limited research on the mental health of farmworkers has found that they are more likely to suffer with a mental health condition when compared to the general U.S. population. The purpose of this exploratory descriptive cross-sectional survey study was to explore professional behaviors and attitudes held by human service workers employed in agencies or programs that provide human services to farmworkers. Human service worker demographic characteristics and attitudes were examined to determine their influence on their propensity to provide farmworkers with referrals to mental health care. A convenience sample of 188 human service workers employed in agencies located in south Florida participated in the study.;Three questionnaires were used to assess the attitudes of respondents relating to empathy, mental health stigma and attitudes about immigrants. The typical respondent in this sample of human service workers was a Latino woman who had a personal history of farm work employment or had a family member with farm work employment history. Human service workers who had prior farm work employment history and had family member with prior farm work employment history were found to be less likely to provide a farmworker with a referral to mental health care.