Over the past 20 years, a large investment in agricultural safety and health research has been made in the US and internationally. However, adapting research to practice has been challenging in the agricultural setting.
The Great Plains Center for Agricultural Health will provide information, supportive services, and financial resources for adapting agricultural safety and health research, to provide our community partners with the tools to develop and deliver effective interventions to agricultural populations. Our community engagement activities are designed to facilitate two-way information exchange, with the Center receiving feedback, relayed through our partnering organizations, on agricultural workers’ perceived health risks and the relevance and effectiveness of available interventions.
Working with community-based agricultural health and safety organizations who have established valuable working relationships with agricultural workers (e.g., the AgriSafe Network) will facilitate an active process to adapt scientific findings into prevention programs that directly impact agricultural producers at the grassroots level.
Community Partners
The Community Partnerships program will empower community based organizations to reach out and explore the delivery of new services that, without Center support, would be unavailable. At the same time, these partnerships will foster programs that could not be implemented by Center investigators without the involvement of community-based partners. Strategic alliances between Center personnel and community partners will enhance the strengths and abilities of both groups. Center partners currently include:
- AgriSafe Network: A network of health professionals who provide occupational health and safety services to agricultural producers (http://www.agrisafe.org)
- AgriWellness, Inc: Works to address the behavioral health care needs of agricultural populations and communities and to provide education about these needs. (http://www.agriwellness.org)
- Farm Safety For Just Kids: Promote a safe farm environment to prevent health hazards, injuries, and fatalities to children and youth (http://www.farmsafetyforjustkids.org/)
- National Education Center for Agricultural Safety: To raise awareness of safety issues in rural communities and provide training in addressing these issues. (http://www.necasag.org)
- Cooperative State Extension Services: A network of largely off-campus educators in each state in our region who extend research-based knowledge to the public and engage people in life-long learning.
Farm Families Alive and Well Newsletter
The Farm Families Alive and Well newsletter is a joint initiative of the Great Plains Center for Agricultural Health and Iowa’s Center for Agricultural Safety and Health (ICASH)and has been published quarterly since 2003. The newsletter provides current updates on research, outreach programs, and activities of the two Centers. It is available in both print and PDF format.
Click here for the latest edition. For older editions of the newsletter, please see our archive.
