Performing Department
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Non Technical Summary
Western Region Agricultural Stress Assistance III (WRASAP III) builds on the 2020/2023 program activities for WRASAP II, continuing to outreach to the network of partnerships in the 13 States and 4 Territories of Western Region while increasing outreach to new audiences WRASAP III goals track those of the USDA.WRASAP III will continue to network with programs like AgrAbility promotores while outreaching to new audiences by embedding behavioral health competencies into existing service delivery. The program will also embed farm stress and mental health information into existing Extension based programs such as Livestock Advisors Program.Web-based Interactive Geographical Services Map (WIGSM): The project team will ensure the regional clearinghouse is publicly available but will work with in-house staff and contractors to create a Web-based Interactive Geographical Services Map (WIGSM). The WIGSM will improve accessibility of the existing clearinghouse by providing a graphical search interface on the website via an interactive map. Investigators and Coordinators will educate partners on program activity, results of surveys, resources developed, findings of evaluator and future plans at conferences and partner meetings. Program highlights will be published to the website.Range of Services offered for farmers and farm workers including the existing Farm Aid Resource Hotline with extended hours, and WRASAP III adds AgriSafe Crisis Hotline in WA, MT, and CO with the intent of bringing more States online to this valuable service with future funding opportunities. Rural Peer Assistance Network, peer support groups, promotores outreach, mental health intervention curriculum development and QPR/MHFA trainings will also be offered. WRASAP III will also offer expanded outreach to Tribal, Faith based and LGBTQIA+ communities.Based on the Land Grant mission and having Extension offices in all 13 States and 4 Territories of the west, this program adds to Extension's capacity to provide direct and culturally appropriate resources to farming communities, acknowledging the diversity of the region and the changing needs of farmers and farm workers. The WRASAP III evaluator will review quarterly to inform delivery throughout one year program duration.Target Audience: All farmers/ranchers/farm workers in Western Region, including historicallyunderserved, veteran, aging, Tribal, Faith based, LGBTQIA+ and those with disabilities.
Animal Health Component
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Research Effort Categories
Basic
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Applied
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Developmental
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Goals / Objectives
Goal 1. Continue growth of WRASAP network throughout the Western Region; invite new stakeholders,align with existing networks, and develop best practices for building state networks. Activity 1.A. UC Davis will host quarterly Network meetings to facilitate building and connectingthe expanding WRASAP network. Activity 1.B. UC Davis will maintain social media channels in Spanish and English with information relevant to developing and extending network. Activity 1.C. Network in Western Region states and territories to connect stakeholders such asland-grant universities with information, education, training and support to educate ag workers,producers and their families about mental health resources and programs.Activity 1.D. Facilitate at least one statewide collaborative gathering in each state of CO, WY, NMfor stakeholders to gather to grow collaborations and unified efforts around agricultural focusedbehavioral health and well-being programs.Activity 1.E. Explore the feasibility of creating a training program for Faith Leaders based on theLand Logic Model. Activity 1.F. Extend WRASAP reach into the LGBTQIA population of farmers by seeking outpartnerships with the Queer Farmer's network and national Young Farmer's coalition chapters in theWestern Region. Activity 1.G. Reach out to Farmer Veteran Coalition to strengthen WRASAP outreach to VeteranFarmers.Activity 1.H. Followup with communities that participated in previous mental health communitydevelopment discussions in ID and determine next steps.Activity 1.I. WSU Skagit County extension will expand farm stress and suicide prevention awareness outreach through the existing extension Livestock Advisors program.Goal 2:Continue to expand clearinghouse of resources initiated in FY2019 WRASAP and furtherdeveloped in FY2020 WRASAP II. Activity 2.A. Upgrade online Clearinghouse at farmstress.us to include Web-based InteractiveGeographical Services Map (WIGSM) an interactive map that displays Clearinghouse data. Activity 2.B. Continue to expand Clearinghouse by adding new resources as they are discovered Goal 3: Educate internal and external partners on program activities and how to access resources. Activity 3.B. UC Davis will host or attend 3 workshops or outreach events with farm stresspresentations to disseminate WRASAP baseline survey results back to relevant communities.Activity 3.C. University of Arizona will raise awareness of resources for ag stress and suicide prevention in Tribal communities in AZ by participating in local and regional meetings.Activity 3.D. University of Arizona will expand tribal resources by collecting information aboutexisting local resources and unmet resource needs and share with other partners at regional andnational meetings.Activity 3.E. Colorado State University will provide workshops with stress-assistance informationand resources, evidence-based programs, referrals, and promotion of new AgriSafe crisis line.Activity 3.F. Rocky Mountain Farmers Union will continue outreach through workshops, trainings, andconferences to host agriculture stress and behavioral health focused talks and discussions.Activity 3.G. Rocky Mountain Farmers Union will partner with University of Hawaii to strengthen andcontinue the outreach and development of AgWell's Agriculture Peer Support training.Activity 3.H. Utah State University will develop an online, self-guided mental health literacyprogram for youth living in rural communities.Activity 3.I. WSU will build outreach to faith leaders by engaging the current connections with theInterfaith Sustainable Food Collaborative as well as reaching out to other rural faith leaders byattending and presenting at pastor's conferences and other state and regional gatherings of faithleaders.Activity 3.J. Univ of Idaho will develop a short film that tells the story of farm stress in ID.They will also promote and advertise the short film and other mental health resources offered by Uof ID.Goal 4: Provide a range of services and targeted outreach for farmers or people working withfarmers to address stressors and behavioral health. Activity 4.A. Continue extended services of Farm Aid's farmer resource call line to meet needs ofWestern Region.Activity 4.B. Add AgriSafe 24/7 crisis hotline help lines in WA, MT, and CO Activity 4.C. Provide a series of community outreach campaigns, peer support groups and educationaltrainings throughout program duration, evaluate methods and expand throughout region, asappropriate. 12 large scale outreach efforts will address stigma, build behavioral healthcompetencies, offer support for stress-affected agricultural communities and increase resilience ofrural communities. Training related to prevention and treatment of opioid use disorder added in WA,OR, ID and AK.? Activities 4.C.1, 4.C.2, 4.C.3 Oregon State University (OSU)· Offer QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer) trainings in English and Spanish · Train additional QPRinstructors throughout the state · Offer QPR trainings for Farm Service Agency and NRCS personnelin ORActivities 4.C.4, 4.C.5 University of Hawai'i · Recruit and train 25 individuals to serve as ag mental health advisors · Provide mental healthvouchers to Hawai'i ag community · Continue Seeds of Wellbeing Project to develop resiliency andmental health resources for Hawai'i ag producers · Collaborate with ag mentors to offer workshopsin ag community on stress management & resiliency, including those impacted by Maui fire disasterActivities 4.C.6, 4.C.7 Rocky Mountain Farmers Union (RMFU) · Train additional ag service agents & professionals in COMET (Changing Our Mental and EmotionalTrajectory) for CO, WY, NM, in both English (100) and Spanish (30) · Offer peer support events like12 Pizza4Producers events, 50 Coffee and Connection events for farmers, ranchers, ag workers,across CO, WY, NM · Partner with 4H, FFA, NFU (National Farmers Union) to expand your agriculturalstress and well-being curriculumActivities 4.C.8, 4.C.9 Utah State University (USU) · Provide training and technical assistance based on expertise in areas of mental health among aging adults, individuals with autism, rural youth · Disseminate evidence-based programming to awide variety of employer, professional, and consumer stakeholders within rural communities acrossUtah and the Western RegionActivities 4.C.10, 4.C.11 University of Guam (UG)· Host suicide prevention training (QPR, Safe Talk, MHFA) for staff members · Translate relevantmaterials to languages commonly used among Guam's farming population; promote and distributeresource materials, trainings, and crisis contact informationActivities 4.C.12 Washington State University (WSU) · Provide training to rural communities in WA, OR, ID, AK, including tribal communities, to helpthem prevent and treat opioid use disorder. Training includes MHFA training to build capacity forcrisis intervention
Project Methods
Performance Assessment Oversight. The Learning and Performance Research Center (LPRC) atWashington State University will work with the PIs to provide consultative, evaluative, and analyticalsupport in relation to the project through a rigorous and comprehensive Performance Monitoring andEvaluation Plan (PMEP) for the project. Dr. Brian French, Professor and Director of the LPRC will leadan LPRC team (Dr. Chad Gotch, Professor and a graduate research assistant) to provide anassessment of the inputs and outcomes of the proposed initiatives.PMEP includes formative measures to assess progress toward attaining the goals and objectives of theproposed project. Such continuous monitoring and evaluation of the project operations will allow foreffective internal self-monitoring and planning and will: (a) ensure that the project is demonstratingresults under the objectives of the project and (b) assist FRSAN's performance monitoring. Additionally,PMEP will include summative measures to assess project impact at the individual level. Two keyindicators that will be used to measure project impact and performance are: (a) farmers' and ranchers'connection and use of USDA programs such as the Agriculture Mediation Program, and (b) farmers' andranchers' connection to other government programs and resources. These indicators are unique to thecontext and program environment and will be key components of impact. Data will be collected twice ayear throughout the project in quantitative form and will consider applying a growth model to modelresource use variability across groups and programs.