‘Invisible’ workers aging

YAKIMA – In 1972, Raul Soto immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico, expecting to work for only a few years before returning to his native country.

Forty years later, the 69-year-old former fruit picker – like millions of other migrant workers – is growing old in America.

“I still think about going back to Mexico, but I have never returned,” said Soto, now a U.S. citizen. “I never thought I would stay in this country, but I did.”

The Hispanic population in America continues to grow older, with the median age – though still a low 27.6 – steadily increasing in the past 15 years, according to data released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau. What’s more, Census Bureau projections indicate that the elderly Hispanic population – people 65 and older – will more than triple by 2030, to 7.8 million, compared with a 65 percent increase in elderly Caucasians.

Elderly Hispanic people represent the fastest-growing population at or near retirement, according to a study by the National Hispanic Council on Aging.

“Latino adults are clearly living longer, but they are not living better,” said Yanira L. Cruz, the council’s president. “Their quality (of life) is very weak, leaving a lot to be desired.”

Experts say the aging population – including many who worked in migrant labor for decades – presents a unique challenge for medical, social and housing organizations.

“Farmworkers are, in general, invisible,” said Brien Thane, former executive director of Washington Farm Worker Housing Trust, which was dissolved due to lack of funding. “Elderly farmworkers are like the invisible of the invisible. They really are a horribly neglected population.”

In Yakima County, the country’s top producer of apples and hops, nearly half of the 220,000 residents are Hispanic.

Among elderly Hispanics, the poverty rate is twice that of Caucasians. Individuals are less likely to seek and receive health care, resulting in higher rates of illness such as heart disease, diabetes, dementia and cancer, according to state and federal studies.

“The limited access to services that are culturally and linguistically appropriate presents major challenges,” said Cruz, of the National Hispanic Council on Aging. At the Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic, Dr. Paul Monahan has treated agricultural workers for the last 41 years. Monahan said many elderly farmworkers deal with injuries from the repetitive nature of farm work.

“Overuse is the most common thing,” Monahan said. “Have you ever seen any videos of asparagus workers? They bend and they bend and they bend some more. And (it is no) surprise that they get an injury later on.”

Pesticide exposure also presents concerns for elderly workers, but few studies have addressed the effects of long-term exposure, Monahan said. According to federal studies, farmworkers are at high risk for work-related injuries, lung diseases, noise-induced hearing loss, skin diseases, and cancers associated with chemical use and perpetual sun exposure.

Elderly Hispanics often feel isolated because they don’t understand how to navigate the health care system, according to a 2011 report from Hispanics in Philanthropy. As a result, lingering problems like hypertension and arthritis may go untreated.

The Rev. Felipe Puleto, a priest at Saint Joseph’s Parish in Yakima, worked in the fields with his family when they first arrived in the U.S. from Mexico. He said many elderly Hispanic farmworkers are more concerned with their children having access to health care than themselves.

“If they have headaches or even depression, they deal with that in their own ways,” Puleto said. “Only if the pain is severe, they go to the farmworkers clinic. If it is something mild, they just take an aspirin or even natural medications.”

Growing old in America was not part of the American dream for many Hispanics who migrated in the 1970s and ’80s, Puleto said. His parents, both 64, continue to work in the fields.

“My dad’s generation – they came here to work for a few years then go back,” he said. “That was the idea. But once they were here, and the kids were growing up and learning the language and culture, Mexico seemed to get farther and farther away.”