Migration and Health: A Research Methods Handbook

The study of migrant populations poses unique challenges owing to the mobility of these groups, which may be further complicated by cultural, educational, and linguistic diversity as well as the legal status of their members. These barriers limit the usefulness of both traditional survey sampling methods and routine public health surveillance systems. Since nearly 1 in 7 people in the world is a migrant, appropriate methodological approaches must be designed and implemented to capture health data from populations. This effort is particularly important because migrant populations, in comparison to other populations, typically suffer disparities related to limited access to health care, greater exposure to infectious diseases, more occupational injuries, and fewer positive outcomes for mental health and other health conditions.

This path-breaking handbook is the first to engage with the many unique issues that arise in the study of migrant communities. It offers a comprehensive description of quantitative and qualitative methodologies useful in work with migrant populations. By providing information and practical tools, the editors fill existing gaps in research methods and enhance opportunities to address the health and social disparities migrant populations face in the United States and around the world.

Marc B. Schenker, MD, MPH
Marc Schenker is Associate Vice Provost for Outreach and Engagement in the office of University Outreach and International Programs (since July 2012) and Professor of Public Health Sciences and Medicine, UC Davis. He is founding director of the Migration and Health Research Center, Western Center for Agricultural Health and Safety, and program director for Public Health Sciences at the Center for Occupational and Environmental Health. He is codirector of the Migration and Health Center of Expertise, University of California Global Health Institute.

Dr. Schenker served as Department Chair of Public Health Sciences from 1995 to 2007. He provides leadership for UC Davis outreach and engagement efforts at the local, state and international level. He received his B.S. from UC Berkeley, his M.D. at UC San Francisco, and his M.P.H. from Harvard University. Dr. Schenker is Board Certified in Internal Medicine (Pulmonary Disease) and Preventive Medicine (Occupational Medicine). Before coming to UC Davis in 1983, Associate Vice Provost Schenker was Instructor of Medicine at Harvard from 1980 to 1983.

Xóchitl Castañeda, PhD
Xóchitl Castañeda has been the Director of Health Initiative of the Americas at the School of Public Health, University of California Berkeley, since 2001. A medical anthropologist by training, she was educated in Guatemala and Mexico. She did a postdoctoral fellowship in reproductive health at the University of California, San Francisco. She also received postdoctoral training in social science and medicine at Harvard University and at Amsterdam University.

For over seven years, she was a Professor of Public Health Sciences and a P.I. Researcher at Mexico's National Institute of Public Health, where she directed the Department of Reproductive Health. In 1999 she received the National Research Award on Social Science and Medicine. In 2010 the California Latino Legislative Caucus honored her with the National Spirit Award for her leadership in initiatives to improve the quality of life for Latino immigrants in the US. Castañeda has published over 120 manuscripts and has served as a consultant for more than 30 national and international institutions.

Her vision and commitment have led to the creation of binational health programs. Under her direction HIA has coordinated for ten consecutive years the Binational Health Week, one of the largest mobilization efforts in the Americas to improve the well-being of Latin American immigrants. Through these strategies, hundreds of thousands of Latinos have received medical attention and been referred to public and private agencies to obtain services. She has been twice elected an advisor to the Institute for Mexicans Abroad (IME), for which she has served as the National Coordinator of the Health Commission in the U.S.

Alfonso Rodriguez-Lainz, PhD, DVM, MPVM
Alfonso Rodriguez-Lainz is a senior fellow at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Division of Global Migration and Quarantine. Dr. Rodriguez’s main responsibilities include acting as a liaison, coordinator, planner, and project lead for domestic migrant health activities for the Division, across the CDC and in collaboration with national and international partners. In that role he has designed, implemented, and analyzed multiple health studies targeting migrant populations in the U.S and Mexico. Prior to joining the CDC, Dr. Rodriguez was the senior epidemiologist for the California Office of Binational Border Health, California Department of Public Health. He has extensive experience in coordinating cross-border surveillance and public health projects between California, Mexico, and Latin America.

Dr. Rodriguez received his Ph.D. in Epidemiology and Master's in Preventive Veterinary Medicine from the University of California at Davis, and his DVM from the School of Veterinary Medicine in Córdoba, Spain. He has coauthored many peer-reviewed publications and several border and migrant health reports. He also teaches courses on migrant health, global surveillance, and international epidemiology at San Diego State University Graduate School for Public Health.