The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food Agriculture awarded an about $184,000 grant to Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, University Park, Pennsylvania, to aid farmers with disabilities.
According to a news release, the grant will go toward AgrAbility for Pennsylvanians, a collaboration between Penn State Extension and United Cerebral Palsy of Central Pennsylvania that offers services and support to help farmers and agricultural workers with disabilities or long-term health conditions continue in production agriculture. The USDA-provided funding will allow the program to run for four more years.
According to Kendra Martin, the outreach coordinator for AgrAbility PA, the program plans to enhance and grow its services and support through farm assessments, financial resources and networking.
It will also enhance education and outreach to underserved populations in agriculture, including women, veterans, Amish, urban farmers, and minority and ethnically diverse farmers. Adding mental health and stress resources was “another critical component” of the program.
“Research has identified stress management as one of the top needs among farmers,” says Suzanna Windon, AgrAbility PA project director and an assistant professor of youth and adult leadership in Penn State’s Department of Agricultural Economics, Sociology and Education.
New collaborations with Primary Health Network and Penn State’s College of Nursing were devised to strengthen outreach to rural medical centers.
“If a farmer sees a physician or nurse practitioner, it is important for that health provider to know what type of work that farmer is returning to,” says Martin. “Working on a farm looks different – and it is different on each farm. The step up to get onto a tractor is much more significant than a step into a home, for example.”
AgrAbility PA will develop continuing education training for health care professionals. The course will provide detailed information about AgrAbility, disability services and health challenges for farmers.
AgrAbility also provides a free, on-site farm assessment. Abbie Spackman, the project assistant and case coordinator for the program, visits farms to identify barriers to completing essential everyday tasks and to discuss safe and appropriate assistive technologies.
“It’s a conversation,” says Martin. “We sit down with them in the barn or at the kitchen table and learn more about what they do, what the work involves, and what’s going on in their lives.”
While AgrAbility PA does not provide direct funding for equipment, the program staff works with the Pennsylvania Office of Vocational Rehabilitation, the Pennsylvania Assistive Technology Foundation and other third-party funding sources to help farmers receive assistive technology and modifications.
“We believe that collaborative work with our partners and their contributions will be very impactful,” says Windon.
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