07/02/2025
Moultrie Farm Workers Family Health Program🚜🩺
Twenty-two Brenau students, six faculty, one alum and CURRIER the facility dog recently returned from providing health care to underserved migrant farmworkers and their children in Moultrie, Georgia. The interdisciplinary program involved several universities throughout the state, who brought different types of support, including physical therapy, nursing, mental health, dental and more.
Brenau’s physical therapy team, led by associate PT professor Dr. Bob Cantu, evaluated and treated 60 adults for common muscular and skeletal conditions among farmworkers. They also conducted fine and gross motor screening for 262 children.
Through aiding the farmworkers for four days, Cantu said his PT doctoral students not only
experienced working in a fast-paced dynamic environment, but their eyes were opened to the harsh realities this community experiences on a daily basis.
“A lot of them have never been exposed to this population and lifestyle,” Cantu said.
“These are things students will encounter in the real world, and it’s helpful for them to see the total patient, not just the slice of health care that they do.”
Dr. Lucinda Grapenthin, associate professor of psychology, led the group of Brenau psychology graduate students as they screened over 30 children for social, emotional and developmental
issues. They additionally met with the farmworkers to offer mental health support and brought along CURRIER, Grapenthin’s facility dog, to supply comfort.
“The purpose of this trip for us is to think about how we can provide mental health support in ways that are more meaningful to this population,” Grapenthin said. “It was a time for them to be seen and heard. We hopefully assist them to understand what internal resources exist within themselves.”
