Progress 09/01/18 to 08/31/23
Outputs
Target Audience:Agricultural workers with chronic health conditions and disabilities. Rural individuals seeking self-employment in agriculture related enterprises. Health professionals who serve agricultural workers. General community members with an interest in agriculture. During this past year we have maintained contact and provided services for our current enrollees, current farmers needing assistance. We have had veterans sign up for services who are new farmers and need assistance with finding resources, learning the business of farming, and/or writing business plans. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?During the reporting period, AgrAbility of Georgia has offered over 30 Trainings, Workshops or Webinars to over 1300 participants. Attendees included farmers, agriculture specialists, occupational therapists, beginning veteran farmers as well other interested parties. In-person trainings paired with virtual webinars and workshops help extend AgrAbility's reach across the state. Overall, 104.2 CEU's were awarded to 287 participants through 20 different workshops or webinars during the reporting cycle. In person, trainings provided unique opportunities for participants to experience hands-on learning of tractor safety, greenhouse operation, vermiculture, and assistive technology. Additional virtual training opportunities were provided including low-cost AT. Additionally, AgrAbility staff used the Mobile Learning lab to educate extension agents, educators with interest in assistive technology, agriculture educators, and members of the general public at a variety of events. The workshops and webinars offered were titled as follows: Agritourism 101, Greenhouses 101, Vermiculture 101, Creating Assistive Technology Solutions for Limited or No Hand Use, Creating AT Solutions for Vision and Hearing Impairments, Creating Low Cost AT for Lower Extremities, Low-Cost Assistive Technology Solutions for Physical Impairments, Farming with an Amputation - Voices From the Past, Farming With Vision Loss - Voices from the Past, Make stuff and Love People, New Fabrication tools, materials and techniques for making AT solutions in minutes, Rapid Fabrications, Rehabbing Farmer and Ranchers - OT/PT, Tractor Safety, Food Safety, and Veteran Farmer Focus Group. Some workshops and webinars were offered more than once. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We utilize a wide array of communication channels including website, Facebook, mailing lists, YouTube, presentations/workshops, partner agencies, student projects, and media publications. We currently have over 500 friends on our Facebook page and over 1100 subscribers to our mailing list.' What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Education During this grant cycle, AgrAbility was awarded a UGA Extension Innovation Award to purchase a mobile learning lab. The Mobile Learning Lab allowed us to provide a greater reach when providing education on assistive technology to the public and professionals. Examples of some of the events that we took the Mobile Learning Lab to included Extension Agent Training, County Ag Days, Farmer Veteran Coalition Conference, and an agricultural student group tour from the United Kingdom. Over 200 people have been trained on assistive technology using the Mobile Learning Lab. The program also offers workshops to train new farmers with accommodations placed into the workshop to make them accessible. Examples of workshops offered during the reporting period include Produce Food Safety, Greenhouses 101, Tractor Safety, Gardening with Arthritis, Ag Awareness Day, and the Georgia Farm Stress Summit. 449 people participated in the events. The project makes a continual effort to train occupational, physical, and recreational therapists on assistive technology and rehabilitating farmers. We offered workshops for therapist that allowed them to have continuing education credits needed for their professional licensure. We had 22 therapists attend the training. The project does targeted outreach with occupational therapy students. Project staff taught a four-hour class at Brenau University which highlighted a variety of assistive technology applications and the AgrAbility project. One therapy student worked directly with one of our farmers recovering from a Spinal Cord Injury as he transitioned home from the hospital. Staff worked with the Shepherd Center to help address safety issues in a Tool Evaluation program for patients. Staff completed a tool assessment with two occupational therapists for a patient that they were working with. In addition to the evaluation, staff assisted with a Telehealth call to tell the patient about the assessment results. As the tool program progressed staff taught 12 Occupational, Physical, and Recreational Therapists on tool safety so they will be able to evaluate their patient's ability to operate power tools in a safe manner. Staff provided 300 hours of supervision to a Fort Valley State University graduate student completing her practicum experience in Rehabilitation Counseling. Through the practicum, she saw the importance of returning farmers with disabilities to farming and gained knowledge of farm safety and health issues. Georgia AgrAbility staff collaborated with other AgrAbility programs to provide education to their staff and clients that they serve. Staff presented a virtual presentation titled "Assistive Technology for Farmers and Rural Community Members" at the Assistive Technology Expo of Alaska. Staff presented multiple times at the National Training Workshop and provided new states with training about learned experiences to help them get started. Webinars are offered for farmers and professionals to increase their knowledge of assistive technology and issues facing many of our farmers. Examples of some of the webinars offered during the reporting period include Farming with vision loss, Stories from the Past- Farming with an arm amputation, Creating Low Cost AT Solutions for Upper Extremities. The 10 webinars that we offered had a total of 251 people attend. Direct Technical Assistance From September 1 2019 through August 31, 2023, Georgia AgrAbility Staff conducted over 300 site visits with 134 farmers and ranchers with disabilities in Georgia for a total of over 1100 hours of on-site, direct technical assistance. Of those, 62 were clients from previous grant years before 2019 while the remaining 72 were clients taken on as new clients during the grant years from September 1, 2019, through August 31, 2023. Clients received over $520,000 of assistive technology, installations, and fabrications. Overall clients' assistive technology, installations, and fabrications were funded by Vocational Rehabilitation, The Georgia Brain and Spinal Cord Injury Trust Fund, veteran-based nonprofit organizations, private nonprofit organizations, and by self-funding. In Addition, 9 clients received assistance with business planning. AgrAbility organized several volunteer days on farms involving AgrAbility staff, local 4H and FFA students, University Students, members of the general public, and family and friends of clients. Of the 134 farmers served, 59 were veterans of the armed forces. Additionally, 17 of the clients served were female farmers and 24 of the clients were of minority races. Networking Georgia AgrAbility really expanded our networks and collaborations during this reporting period. We had continued success with Agricultural Organizations by having the commodity heads serve on our board. We had great success with our partnership with Vocational Rehabilitation. Through this partnership, our farmers received hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of assistive technology. Georgia AgrAbility organized a group of other AgrAbility states also working on the Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network, to meet and develop strategies to best support our farmers. In addition, we had two adjoining states get an AgrAbility program for the first time. We have been able to network with them and provide assistance and guidance to them as they get established. AgrAbility in Georgia has amplified its efforts to recruit and serve military veterans who are farming. Our Veteran Agriculture Liaison has played a critical role on in the formation of the Georgia Farmer Veteran Coalition Chapter. We are responsible for the initial contact to National FVC to start the interest meeting among members in Georgia. 119 FVC members in Georgia responded positively to the Georgia Chapter Interest Request. The Georgia Chapter Organizing Committee was formed and it includes an AgrAbility Staff member. The group is now meeting monthly to move forward with the incorporation process. We have focused on promoting increased health and wellness for our farmers around stress mitigation efforts. We formed a major partnership with the Georgia Agriculture Wellness Alliance which works toward a common goal of improving the wellbeing of farmers and farming communities in Georgia. In addition, we made community partnerships with over 54 organizations that we hope will allow us to better serve the farmers and rural communities in Georgia. Marketing During the reporting period we had 5 farmers featured in 4 magazines. Those stories were also featured on several online media outlets and had a total estimated reach of 570,000 people. Additionally, staff attended many major events including Sunbelt Ag Expo, Georgia Farm Bureau Annual Conventions, The American Farm Bureau Convention in Atlanta 2022, The Southeast Fruit and Vegetable Growers Conference as well as other smaller agricultural related events and reached over 40,000 people at the different events. In Addition, Our Social Media pages and post have reached 550 friends and is used to share events for the project. In grant year 2020 we featured 74 social media spotlights with a combined total of over 1000 likes. in Grant year 2021, we shared a video with a client and our former Commissioner of Agriculture, Gary Black, the video reached over 4800 views. As well, we have participated in the Annual AgrAbility Virtual State Fair each year since 2020. QOL Since September 1, 2018, approximately 35 farmers have completed the pre-service questionnaire, 5 have completed the post-service questionnaire, and 4 are outstanding. Georgia's Quality of Life Coordinator regularly reviewed the completed questionnaires to note trends and specific farmer needs and provide resources to each farmer as requested.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
E. Bauske, J. Fuder, G Rains 2020. Chainsaw Chains and Bars. Ga. Extension Circular No. 1208.
|
Progress 09/01/22 to 08/31/23
Outputs
Target Audience:Agricultural workers with chronic health conditions and disabilities. Rural individuals seeking self-employment in agriculture related enterprises. Health professionals who serve agricultural workers. General community members with an interest in agriculture. During this past year we have maintained contact and provided services for our current enrollees, current farmers needing assistance. We have had veterans sign up for services who are new farmers and need assistance with finding resources, learning the business of farming, and/or writing business plans Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?A total of 698 people were trained providing 2,853 contact hours of instruction. Highlights include: 35 extension agents were provided a lecture and a hands-on assistive technology showcase with the mobile learning lab. Staff trained 10 new Agriculture and Natural Resource agents on farm safety and AgrAbility. Some of the agents are working in counties that have current AgrAbility clients. Georgia AgrAbility presented at the National Training Workshop about what tools we carry in our work trucks in order to serve our clients through installations. It was intended to allow other SRAPS to get ideas for their programs. Florida and South Carolina AgrAbility are in the beginning years of their first grant. Georgia shared strategies that have been successful for our project over the years. 70 Georgia Agriculture Teachers have been trained in assistive technologies and worksite modifications that allow everyone to be productive in agriculture. 120 people attended a panel at the Georgia Farm Stress Summit to hear how AgrAbility can reduce farmer stress by keeping farmer productive. 19 farmers and community members attended a workshop for Tractor Safety that taught them how to drive and operate farm machinery in a safe manner. 70 farmers and community members attended the Gardening with Arthritis Workshop which taught participants effective strategies to reduce the pain that they feel while growing and raising plants. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We utilize a wide array of communication channels, including website, Facebook, mailing lists, YouTube, presentations/workshops, partner agencies, student projects, and media publications. We participated in the AgrAbility Virtual State Fair with all of the other AgrAbility State to make stakeholders more aware of the services that AgrAbility offers. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We will continue meeting the objectives and goals as outlined in the work plan through extensive education, outreach, marketing and assistance activities.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
DIRECT ASSISTANCE Site Visits - Our work plan objective is to serve at least 60 farmers a year (16 new and 44 continuing). For the current year, we have 76 active AgrAbility customers and conducted over 53 site visits with over 200 hours of on-the-farm technical assistance. We provided business planning services for 11 AgrAbility customers. We had several volunteer days at customer farms. AgrAbility staff have worked hard to provide farmers with the resources needed in the form of assistive technology or worksite modifications. Over $115,000 was secured in items, installations, and fabrications for clients. This was made possible by our work with GVRA and other funding agencies. EDUCATION Georgia AgrAbility works diligently to provide training opportunities that will benefit our farmers and professionals who serve farmers. Events have included a Tractor Safety Workshop, Gardening with Arthritis Workshop, What Tools Do You Have in Your AgrAbilty Truck Presentation, Ag Awareness Day, and the Georgia Farm Stress Summit. 359 people participated in the events. Highlighted events include: Our farmers have expressed concerns about finding labor to help on their operations. In order to assist them we hosted a webinar on the H2A program. 21 people attended to be able to hear about the benefits and logistics involved with the H2A workers. We offered 3 Question Persuade Refer (QPR trainings) and 9 Mental Health First Aid trainings. All of the trainings have been adapted for the farming community. Participants learn about AgrAbility during the training. A total of 310 people attended. The Mobile Learning Lab was used to provide trainings for professionals by showcasing assistive technology that is used by farmers and how it can keep them in their chosen occupation after an illness or injury. We were able to train 124 professionals representing three different organizations. Staff worked with the Shepherd Center to help address safety issues in a Tool Evaluation program for patients. The Shepherd Center is one of the Nation's leading brain and spinal cord injury hospitals. Staff taught Occupational, Physical, and Recreational Therapists on tool safety so they will be able to evaluate their patients' ability to operate power tools in a safe manner. 12 professionals attended the training. NETWORKING In this reporting period, we have increased the networking with agricultural organizations through our advisory board. The board is very excited about Georgia hosting the 2024 AgrAbility NTW and they are already providing us with great ideas and connections for the conference. The staff has been very engaged in networking with other SRAPS and NAP. Georgia AgrAbility always attends the AgrAbility all staff meetings and participates in the montly ENOTE. In addition, Georgia has meet with the new AgrAbility programs in Florida and South Carolina to help provide them with assistance as they get started. Florida AgrAbility was also able to join us during the Sunbelt Ag Expo in October. AgrAbility in Georgia has amplified its efforts to recruit and serve military veterans who are farming. Our Veteran Agriculture Liaison has played a critical role on in the formation of the Georgia Farmer Veteran Coalition Chapter. We are responsible for the initial contact to National FVC to start the interest meeting among members in Georgia. 119 FVC members in Georgia responded positively to the Georgia Chapter Interest Request. The Georgia Chapter Organizing Committee was formed and it includes an AgrAbility Staff meeting. The group is now meeting monthly to move forward with the incorporation process. We have focused on promoting increased health and wellness for our farmers around stress mitigation efforts. We formed a major partnership with the Georgia Agriculture Wellness Alliance which works toward a common goal of improving the well-being of farmers and farming communities in Georgia. In addition, we made community partnerships with over 54 organizations that we hope will allow us to better serve the farmers and rural communities in Georgia. MARKETING The program has had great success with having farmer stories featured this year. The Georgia Grown Magazine did an article about two of our farmer clients that we have worked with. In addition, farmer stories were featured in the University of Georgia Magazine. Stories were also shared online by the UGA College of Family and Consumer Sciences, Albany Herald, Henry Herald, Yahoo Lifestyle, and Yahoo Sports. All of the publications had an estimated reach of 550,000. Highlights include: We had booths at the three largest agriculture conferences in our state ( Sunbelt Agriculture Exposition, Georgia Farm Bureau Annual Convention, Southeast Regional Fruit and Vegetable Conference) reaching an estimated 10,040 people. The program utilized social media very well during this time period with a reach of 1493. We also participated in the National AgrAbility Virtual State Fair. In addition, our website had over 10,000 views which help to bring people to our project. Our email mailing list has 1,081 subscribers. We stay in contact with them on a regular basis. Quality of Life: During this reporting period, the Georgia AgrAbility team actively participated in the NAP Quality of Life Research Study, which includes attending the quarterly NAP Evaluation Committee meetings and forwarding pre/post data to the Evaluation Chair as requested. We had four new clients participate in the Quality of Life Pre-Survey. We continue to promote QOL to all of our farmers.
Publications
|
Progress 09/01/21 to 08/31/22
Outputs
Target Audience:Agricultural workers with chronic health conditions and disabilities. Rural individuals seeking self-employment in agriculture related enterprises. Health professionals who serve agricultural workers. General community members with an interest in agriculture. During this past year we have maintained contact and provided services for our current enrollees, current farmers needing assistance. We have had veterans sign up for services who are new farmers and need assistance with finding resources, learning the business of farming, and/or writing business plans Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?These are also listed under Education Accomplishments We hosted two webinars during the month of August with Dr. Therese Willkomm. The first webinar was entitled 'Farming with Vision Loss - Voices from the Past' and was hosted on August 11th, 2021. During this webinar Dr. Therese shared a collection of interviews with farmers who are blind and who shared their experiences and adaptations to continue farming with a vision loss. The second webinar was entitled 'Make Stuff and Love People' and was hosted on August 18th, 2021. Dr. Therese shared the joy of making thousands of assistive technology devices; discoveries of new tools and materials for rapid fabrication; and lessons learned over the last 30 years. We brought our Farm Assistive Technology Mobile Lab to the grand opening of the new extension facility in Troup County on November 6th 2021. The AgDay focused on promoting agriculture to the entire community. We are excited for the opportunity to share about AgrAbility and showcase assistive technology. Georgia AgrAbility was invited by Tennessee AgrAbility to the Farmer Veteran Conference in Knoxville on November 17th - 19th 2021. We brought the Farm Assistive Technology Mobile Learning for participants to learn about various adaptations. Georgia AgrAbility staff presented a virtual presentation titled "Assistive Technology for Farmers and Rural Community Members" at the Assistive Technology Expo hosted by Assistive Technology of Alaska (ATLA) Georgia AgrAbility attended the AgrAbility National Training Workshop. Georgia Agrability Staff presented at two sessions: "Design by What You Can Find" and "Vision Solutions for Farmers." An agricultural student group from the United Kingdom came to the University of Georgia Tifton Campus and requested to hear about AgrAbility. We showcased our Mobile Learning Lab to the students for them to learn more about AgrAbility services and assistive technology. On February 18, 2021 AgrAbility staff attended the Blue Ridge Mountain Conservation District monthly meeting and told the attendees about AgrAbility services in Georgia. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We utilize a wide array of communication channels including: website, Facebook, mailing lists, YouTube, presentations/workshops, partner agencies, student projects and media publications. We currently have over 500 friends on our facebook page and over 1100 subscribers to our mailing list.' What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We will continue meeting the objectives and goals as outlined in the work plan through extensive education, outreach, marketing and assistance activities.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Education We hosted two webinars during the month of August with Dr. Therese Willkomm. The first webinar was entitled 'Farming with Vision Loss - Voices from the Past' and was hosted on August 11th, 2021. During this webinar Dr. Therese shared a collection of interviews with farmers who are blind and who shared their experiences and adaptations to continue farming with a vision loss. The second webinar was entitled 'Make Stuff and Love People' and was hosted on August 18th, 2021. Dr. Therese shared the joy of making thousands of assistive technology devices; discoveries of new tools and materials for rapid fabrication; and lessons learned over the last 30 years. We brought our Farm Assistive Technology Mobile Lab to the grand opening of the new extension facility in Troup County on November 6th 2021. The AgDay focused on promoting agriculture to the entire community. We are excited for the opportunity to share about AgrAbility and showcase assistive technology. Georgia AgrAbility was invited by Tennessee AgrAbility to the Farmer Veteran Conference in Knoxville on November 17th - 19th 2021. We brought the Farm Assistive Technology Mobile Learning for participants to learn about various adaptations. Georgia AgrAbility staff presented a virtual presentation titled "Assistive Technology for Farmers and Rural Community Members" at the Assistive Technology Expo hosted by Assistive Technology of Alaska (ATLA) Georgia AgrAbility attended the AgrAbility National Training Workshop. Georgia Agrability Staff presented at two sessions: "Design by What You Can Find" and "Vision Solutions for Farmers." An agricultural student group from the United Kingdom came to the University of Georgia Tifton Campus and requested to hear about AgrAbility. We showcased our Mobile Learning Lab to the students for them to learn more about AgrAbility services and assistive technology. On February 18, 2021 AgrAbility staff attended the Blue Ridge Mountain Conservation District monthly meeting and told the attendees about AgrAbility services in Georgia. Direct Assistance We had an active caseload of 75 farmers during the year. We conducted 49 site visits, providing 245 contact hours. On behalf of our farmers, we leveraged $64,000 in funding for assistive technology, worksite accommodations through GVRA, private foundations and entities. Georgia AgrAbility completed a unique worksite modification for a farming client who is growing mushrooms. Staff converted the farmer's enclosed trailer into a mobile cooler. The farmer will be able to store all of his mushrooms in the trailer and hook up to it when he is ready to go sell at the farmers market. Converting the trailer to a cooler will eliminate the need for him to load heavy coolers with mushrooms into his truck for transport. You can watch a time-lapse video of the trailer conversion here. Networking - Georgia AgrAbility and the Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network are partnering to address farmer stress. One of the pilot projects is called Meet at the Shed, and it is a unique way of bringing people together to improve mental health through building a sense of community and belonging. It is based on the Men's Shed initiative which has chapters worldwide. Meet at The Shed is a maker space where people can come together to work on woodworking, metal working, mechanical projects and more. Research has shown Men's Shed's participants reported decreased social isolation, improved mental and physical health, and improved overall quality of life. On April 5th, we hosted a kickoff informational session and had 46 people in attendance. Marketing AgrAbility staff offer AgrAbility clients free marketing services for their farm. This includes logo design and marketing consultation. QOL (Quality of Life) During this time-period, we had two pre-surveys and one post survey completed.
Publications
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Stone, Jay. Follow safety precautions around PTO's and HYdraulics to prevent farm accidents, GFB MAgazine, 9.5.2021
|
Progress 09/01/20 to 08/31/21
Outputs
Target Audience:Agricultural workers with chronic health conditions and disabilities. Rural individuals seeking self-employment in agriculture related enterprises. Health professionals who serve agricultural workers. General community members with an interest in agriculture. During this past year we have maintained contact and provided services for our current enrollees, current farmers needing assistance. We have had veterans sign up for services who are new farmers and need assistance with finding resources, learning the business of farming, and/or writing business plans Changes/Problems:Our long-term contact at Fort Valley State University (1890) has retired. We have started conversations with FVSU on the next steps. In the past, we have focused on rehabilitation students by offering paid internships. Moving forward, we most likely will work with the agricultural students. While the outcomes will be the same, the student dynamic will change. There will not be a budgetary impact. In addition, we were not able complete the therapist trainings with the Shepherd Center due to Covid-19 restrictions. We will move these trainings into the next year. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Over sixty extension agents were provided a lecture and a hands-on assistive technology showcase with the mobile learning lab. Staff has been featured on the Georgia Farm Bureau podcast to give the fundamentals of agricultural safety to a broad audience of listeners across the state. Staff trained 12 new Agriculture and Natural Resource agents on farm safety and AgrAbility. Some of the agents are working in counties that have current AgrAbility clients. Staff has trained first responders on machinery extrication in rural parts of the state. Georgia AgrAbility has been utilizing a client management system since 2015 that has been very effective. We hosted a webinar for over 15 other SRAP staff members to show them the benefits of the system. In addition, staff made tutorial videos and posted them to YouTube so other states could follow along and build their own case management system in a matter of hours. Washington AgrAbility is in the beginning years of its first grant. Georgia shared strategies that have been successful for our project over the years. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We utilize a wide array of communication channels including: website, Facebook, mailing lists, YouTube, presentations/workshops, partner agencies, student projects and media publications. We currently have over 500 friends on our facebook page and over 1100 subscribers to our mailing list. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We will continue meeting the objectives and goals as outlined in the work plan through extensive education, outreach, marketing and assistance activities.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
DIRECT ASSISTANCE Site Visits - For the current year, we have 70 active AgrAbility customers and conducted over 70 site visits. We provided business planning services for 8 AgrAbility customers. We had several volunteer days at customer farms involving AgrAbility staff and FFA students. 12 customers received $15,950 in installation services, and 7 customers received $8,000 in fabrication services from the AgrAbility in Georgia staff. AgrAbility has worked heavily with GVRA over the past year, even when GVRA implemented a service priority system due to budget cuts. Thirty-one farmers benefited from GVRA services with $247,570 in assistive technology, business start-up expenses, and training services. In addition, AgrAbility worked to secure $53,620 from other funding sources for the farmers. EDUCATION Georgia AgrAbility always has a series of webinars hosted by Dr. Therese Willkomm, Director of the New Hampshire Statewide Assistive Technology Program (ATinNH) with the Institute on Disability and a Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Occupational Therapy. Ag professionals, as well as occupational and physical therapists, will benefit from these training opportunities. Listed below are the trainings for this reporting period. Webinars: Farming with the vision loss, stories from the past Farming with an arm amputation, stories from the past Farming with the spinal cord injury. Staff provided 300 hours of supervision to an FVSU graduate student completing her practicum experience in Rehabilitation Counseling. Through the practicum, she saw the importance of returning farmers with disabilities to farming and gained knowledge of farm safety and health issues. With the shift from in-person training to virtual events due to COVID-19, staff has been working to create online training for VR counselors. The online training format will provide more flexibility for counselors to complete the training on their schedule. The curriculum should be finished this grant year, and the online format will allow us to reach more counselors, and the desired output for the objective will be met. VR counselors will be able to receive Certified Rehabilitation Counselor continuing education credits by completing the training. The project was fortunate to receive a University of Georgia Extension Innovation Grant to purchase a mobile learning lab. The lab will be used to do targeted outreach and education on farm adaptations and technology. We trained over 60 Northwest Georgia agricultural, 4-H, and family and consumer science extension agents. In addition, staff presented virtually about AgrAbility to the UGA agricultural extension agents in the Northeast, Southeast, and Southwest districts. There were over 100 extension agents in attendance for the presentations. The work plan objectives have exceeded networking with UGA Extension. The project does targeted outreach with occupational therapy students each year. One therapy student worked directly with one of our farmers recovering from a Spinal Cord Injury as he transitioned home from the hospital. AgrAbility is currently in the process of hiring a student intern. The student will gain valuable experience working directly with farmers. Additionally, AgrAbility will be submitting a proposal this year for a College of Engineering capstone design project. Staff worked with the Shepherd Center to help address safety issues in a Tool Evaluation program for patients. Staff completed a tool assessment with two occupational therapists for a patient that they were working with. In addition to the evaluation, staff assisted with a Telehealth call to tell the patient about the assessment results. NETWORKING In this reporting period, we have increased the networking with agricultural organizations through our advisory board. We welcomed five new board members and added a new commodity organization with the Georgia Pecan Growers Association. The board is very excited about the new mobile learning lab and ready to bring it to their events. Georgia AgrAbility organized a group of other AgrAbility states, to meet and develop strategies to best support our farmers. The first meeting had 19 participants, and the meetings will be ongoing and allow the states to share best practices and resources. The staff worked with the Chestatee-Chattahoochee Resource Conservation and Development (RC&D) Program to provide workdays for AgrAbility clients to get their farm under control after lost days due to an injury. MARKETING Staff was not able to attend various expositions that AgrAbility uses to promote the project. During this reporting period, we transitioned all of our marketing online. We participated in the AgrAbility Virtual State Fair that was organized by NAP. Gary Black, Commissioner of Agriculture for the State of Georgia, was filmed interviewing an AgrAbility client for the event. The video was the most viewed video of the entire AgrAbility Virtual State Fair, with over 4,800 views. During the AgrAbility Virtual State Fair, we had 14 posts with 192 Likes, a reach of 12,719, 1,595 engagements, 114 shares, 14 comments, and 5,354 video views. In addition, we created a virtual Sunbelt Agricultural Exposition on Facebook. During this one-day event, we had 71 likes, 28 shares, and 30 comments. The state website continues to provide up-to-date information and resources to customers. We have even had client referrals to other states because of our website prevalence on search engines. The project's website, www.farmagain.com, continues to receive daily visitors from around the world. We currently have over 550 friends on our Facebook page and 1,027 subscribers to our mailing list. Quality of Life: During this reporting period, the Georgia AgrAbility team actively participated in the NAP Quality of Life Research Study, which includes attending the quarterly NAP Evaluation Committee meetings and forwarding pre/post data to the Evaluation Chair as requested. Since September 1, 2018, approximately 35 farmers have completed the pre-service questionnaire, 5 have completed the post-service questionnaire, and 4 are outstanding. Georgia's Quality of Life Coordinator regularly reviewed the completed questionnaires to note trends and specific farmer needs and provide resources to each farmer as requested. • Younger farmers, including veterans, tend to rate their emotional well-being more positively than the farmers who are older and who have been farming longer; • Achieving life goals and feeling control over life are the two emotional well-being measures that farmers appear to have the most concern with, regardless of age or farming experience; • Physical pain, immobility, difficulty getting up and down, walking, and balance issues are the symptoms that are identified the most as being the most troublesome; • Ability to complete chores on the farm, as well as their ability to change or modify equipment in order to accommodate their needs, are the areas farmers appear to be the most concerned with on the Independent Living and Work portion of the questionnaire. An AgrAbility staff member worked under contract with Colorado State University to provide QOL analysis for the National AgrAbility Project. The purpose of the qualitative study is to explore and understand the reasons for and mechanisms that led to significant increases in quantitative pre-post scores in QOL levels and ILW levels for clients with disabilities that were part of the AgrAbility project. The goal of this study was to conduct phone interviews with farmers having disabilities who were past clients of the AgrAbility project to understand the programmatic and personal factors that led to significant pre-post increases in their scores for the Quality of Life and the Independent Living and Working measures.
Publications
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
E. Bauske, J. Fuder, G Rains 2020. Chainsaw Chains and Bars. Ga. Extension Circular No. 1208.
|
Progress 09/01/19 to 08/31/20
Outputs
Target Audience:Agricultural workers with chronic health conditions and disabilities. Rural individuals seekingself-employment in agriculturerelated enterprises. Health professionals who serve agricultural workers. General community memberswith an interest inagriculture. During this past year we have maintained contact and provided services for our currentenrollees, currentfarmers needing assistance. We have had veterans sign up for services who are new farmers and needassistance withfinding resources, learning the business of farming, and/or writing business plans Changes/Problems:COVID-19 resulted in at least one of our hands-on trainings with VR counselors to be cancelled. In response to the COVID-19 outbreaks and the vuneralbility of our customers to infection, we developed a protocol for how to continue meeting with our custmoers virutally. We presented our operating proceduresduring National Agrability Staff meeting on May, 2020. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?AgrAbility has offered training and professional development opportunities by co-sponsoring and sponsoring the Rapid Fabrication workshops, and Rehabilitating Farmers and Ranchers workshop. WE were unable to prform the 2-day workshops this year due to the health concerns from the COVID-19 outbreak. Georgia AgrAbility alsohosted a series of webinars hosted by Dr. Therese Willkomm, Director of the New Hampshire Statewide AssistiveTechnology Program (ATinNH) with the Institute on Disability and a Clinical Associate Professor in the Department ofOccupational Therapy. Ag professionals as well as occupational and physical therapists have benefited from these trainingopportunities. Webinars provided: Creating Low-Cost AT Solutions for Upper Extremities May 28, 2020 16attendees, 24contact hours Creating Low-Cost AT Solutions for LowerExtremities June 23, 2020 TBD # of attendees New Fabrication Tools, Materials, and Techniques for Farmers with Disabilities July 28, 2020 TBD # of attendees Sixty-five occupational and physical therapy students were provided hands-on lecture (1 hour) about assitaive technology in agriculture. Twenty-five veterans, current farmers and starting farmers attended a half-day vermiculture 101 workshop. Attendees feedbackwas very positive. Staff provided100 hours of supervision to anFVSU graduate studentcompleting her practicum experience. At the end of the semester, pre-post test results show the practicumexperience increased the graduate student's knowledgeoverall by 142.85%, to include a 300% increase regarding theimportance of returning farmers with disabilities to farming,as well as knowledge of farm safety and health issues. Thissame graduate student desired to further her knowledge inagriculture related assistive technology and conducting on site assessments, therefore shereceived an additional 300hours of supervision during the Spring 2020 semester, and anticipates that she will return for the remaining 300 hoursthis summer or fall. In the upcoming year, staff will recruit 1-2 new graduate students. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We utilize a wide array of communication channels including: website, Facebook, mailing lists, YouTube,presentations/workshops, partner agencies, student projects and media publications.Wecurrently have over 500 friends on our facebook page and 1081 subscribers to our mailing list. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We will continue meeting the objectives and goals as outlined in the work plan through extensive education, outreach, marketing and assistance activities.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
DIRECT ASSISTANCE Site Visits - Our workplan objective is to serve at least 70 farmers a year (20 new and 50 continuing). For the current year we have 78 active agrability customers and conducted over 20 site visits. We provided six business plans for agrability customers. We had several volunteer days atcustomer farms involving agrability staff, local 4-H, University and FFA students. Customers received $7100.00 in installation services and $9080.00 in fabrication services from the Agrability in Georgia staff. EDUCATION Quality of Life: During this reporting period, the Georgia AgrAbility team actively participated in the NAP Quality of Life Research Study, which includes attending the quarterly NAP Evaluation Committee meetings and forwarding pre/post data to the Evaluation Chair as requested. Since September 1, 2018 approximately 32farmers have comopeted the pre-service questionnaire, 3 hve completed the post-service questionnaire, and 4 are outstanding. Georgia's Quality of Life Coordinator regularly reviewed the completedquestionnaires to note trends and specific farmer needs, and provided resources to each farmer as requested. For thisreporting period, the following trends were identified among the pre-service QOL questionnaire responses: • Younger farmers, including veterans, tend to rate their emotional well-being more positively than the farmers who areolder and who have been farming longer; • Achieving life goals and feeling control over life are the two emotional well-being measures that farmers appear to havethe most concern with, regardless of age or farming experience; • Physical pain, immobility, difficulty getting up and down, walking, and balance issues are the symptoms that are identifiedthe most as being the most troublesome; • Ability to complete chores on the farm, as well as their ability to change or modify equipment in order to accommodatetheir needs are the areas farmers appear to be the most concerned with on the Independent Living and Work portion of thequestionnaire. An AgrAbility staff member workedunder contract with Colorado State University toprovideQOL analysis for the National AgrAbility project. Thepurpose of the qualitative study is to explore and understandthe reasons for, and mechanisms that led to significant increases in quantitative pre-post scores in QOL levels andILW levels for clients with disabilities that were part of theAgrAbility project. The goal of this study was to conductphone interviews with farmers having disabilities who werepast clients of AgrAbility project, to understandthe programmatic and personal factors that led tosignificant pre-post increases in their scores for the Quality of Life and the Independent Living and Working measures. The project wasfortunate to receive a University of GeorgiaExtension Innovation Grant topurchase the trailer. Using other funds, the project had thetrailer wrapped and purchased some assistive technologydemonstration items. The curricula is currently being developed and the project plans to offer on-site workshopsat VR offices an the coming grant year. MARKETING AND NETWORKING The project was featured in 74 social media spotlights, with a combined total of 1047 likes, 76 commetns and 191 shares. The project was featured on WFXL Fox 31 and WALB news channels, 6 news articlews and 5 agricultural websites. Website sontinues to provide up-to-date infromation and resources to customers. Agrability in Georgia cotninties to maintain a strong relaitionship with the Georgia Vocational Rehabilitation Program. Our farmers have received $429,174.00 in assitive technology, busienss strt-up expenses and training services through our VR collaboration.
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Progress 09/01/18 to 08/31/19
Outputs
Target Audience:Agricultural workers with chronic health conditions and disabilities. Rural individuals seeking self-employment in agriculture related enterprises. Health professionals who serve agricultural workers. General community members with an interest in agriculture. During this past year we have maintained contact and provided services for our current enrollees, current farmers needing assistance. We have had veterans sign up for services who are new farmers and need assistance with finding resources, learning the business of farming, and/or writing business plans. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?AgrAbility has offered training and professional development opportunities by co-sponsoring and sponsoring the Greenhouse 101 workshop, Rapid Fabrication workshops, and Rehabilitating Farmers and Ranchers workshop. Georgia AgrAbility also hosted aseries of webinars hosted by Dr. Therese Willkomm,Director of the New Hampshire Statewide Assistive Technology Program (ATinNH) with the Institute on Disability and a Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Occupational Therapy. Ag professionals as well as occupational and physical therapists have benefited from these training opportunities. Rapid Fabrication Workshop May 14, 2019 .70 CEU / 7 contact hours 11 attendees Total = 7.70 CEU / 77 contact hours Rehabilitation Farmer and Rancher Workshop May 22-23, 2019 1.15 CEU / 11.5 contact hours 10 attendees Total = 11.50 CEU / 115 contact hours Greenhouses 101 workshop April 18, 2019 .7 CEU / 7 contact hours 13 attendees Total = 9.1 CEU / 91 contact hours .5 CEU / 5 contact hours 2 attendees Total = 1 CEU / 10 contact hours Total = 10.1 CEU / 101 contact hours Low-cost Assitive Technology Solutions for Physical Impairments Webinar February 6, 2019 .4 CEU / 4 contact hours Assistive Technology for Vision & Hearing Impairments Webinar April 3, 2019 .3 CEU / 3 contact hours Creating Assistive Technology Solutions for Those With No or Limited Hand Use Webinar June 5, 2019 .9 CEU / 9 contact hours Low-cost Assitive Technology Solutions for Physical Impairments Webinar February 6, 2019 .4 CEU / 4 contact hours Assistive Technology for Vision & Hearing Impairments Webinar April 3, 2019 .3 CEU / 3 contact hours Creating Assistive Technology Solutions for Those With No or Limited Hand Use Webinar June 5, 2019 .9 CEU / 9 contact hours Grand total for workshops and webinars: 23.2 CEUs/ 309 contact hours How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We utilize a wide array of communication channels including: website, Facebook, mailing lists, YouTube, presentations/workshops, partner agencies, student projects and media publications. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We will continue meeting the objectives and goals as outlined in the work plan through extensive education, outreach, marketing and assistance activities.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
EDUCATION 1. Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) capacity building using mobile learning center The project was awarded a UGA Extension Innovation Award to purchase a mobile learning lab. We were also able to procure a truck to pull the lab trailer. The lab is currently being customized and will contain examples of a variety of assistive technology items to be used during the trainings. Curriculum development is underway as planned. Recently the State VR senior staff changed. One of the individuals hired worked with VR previously and is a strong supporter of the AgrAbility program. We will begin conversations with her on the trainings at the end of summer 2019. 2. VR capacity building with Veterans Curriculum development is progressing as planned. The project starts discussions with VR on the workshop dates in year two 3. Student Rehabilitation Counselor Capacity Building There have been issues recruiting students during the first year of the grant. Most of the students are completing the degree online.Due to the geographic locations of students it has been difficult to find students to participate.As a counter measure the project worked closely with faculty at Fort Valley State University to survey the students to better understand their intern needs better.The online survey that was distributed to all active graduate students to identify their priorities for selecting an internship site, career development goals, and specific areas within the professional field they are most interested. Fifty percent of the surveys were completed.Incorporating the results from the survey we are discussing best next steps.In addition, AgrAbility staff and FVSU faculty have begun making specific plans for guest lectures that will take place during Summer 2019 and Fall 2019 semesters. 4. New Farmer Capacity Building with Militry Veterans The project is ahead of the schedule with the following military veteran workshops: April 19, 2019 - Greenhouses 101, Athens GA June 26, 2019 - Produce Food Safety, Watkinsville GA July 11, 2019 - Produce Food Safety, Savannah GA July 26, 2019 - Produce Food Safety, Blairsville GA 5. PT/OT Capacity Building The project has offered several workshops for occupational, physical and recreational therapists: Rapid Fabrication, 5/14/2019, (Low Cost AT including agricultural applications), Gwinnett Georgia Rehabilitating Farmers and Ranchers, 5/21-22, 2019, The Rock Georgia 6. Student Therapists Capacity Building Project staff taught a four hour class at Brenau University on November 29, 2018 which highlighted a variety of assistive technology applications and the AgrAbility project. 7. Increase knowledge of assistive technology and prevention of secondary injuries for professionals via Webinars The project offered three webinars taught by Dr.Therese Willkomm. Low Cost Assistive Technology Solutions for Physical Impairments, 2/6/2019 Creating AT Solutions for Vision and Hearing Impairments, 4/3/2019 Creating Assistive Technology Solutions for Limited or No Hand Use, 6/5/2019 The webinars had a total of 45 people and all of the workshops received high ratings. 8. UGA student capacity building The project did not have any interns in year one. However several federal work students were assigned to the department and have been actively working with the project including a variety of workshops. 9. Utilize Website to Provide Educational Materials and Resources The website (farmagain.com) continues to be popular. All workshop registrations go through farmagain.com and we receive a lot of questions and interaction with the users. We are in the process of moving the website to a new format and plan to launch early 2020. 10. Provide Tehnical Assistance to the Public The project tracks all incoming calls and has made five referrals to other state projects. DIRECT ASSISTANCE 1. Site Visits to Agrability Customers During this grant year, we will have provided services to 48 farmers with 15 new and 33 continuing customers. Of those, 17 are military veterans. We have 132 closed/completed cases. Unfortunately we had several clients pass away. While we were behind in overall target numbers, many of the cases were complex cases through VR. They required additional staff time to bring to completion.Closed cases are always made aware that we are only a phone call away should they need assistance with their assistive technology or new recommendations. Of the active cases, 50% are vocational rehabilitation (GVRA) clients. 2. Fabrication Services to Agricultural Customers Three farmers received fabrication services valued at $1,587.00. 3. Installation Services for Agricultural Customers Ten farmers received installation services with an estimated value of $11,908.00. 4. Working with GVRA/VR to Serve Agricultural Customers During the year, twenty-four of active clients were signed up for VR services. 5. Volunteer Events to Serve Agricultural Customers The project had volunteer days for two farmers. 6. Business Planning Services for New Agricultural Customers Two farmers receiver business planning services. NETWORKING 1. Networking with Agricultural Organizations through Advisory Board We are in the process of developing an electronic newsletter for the Board. Two of commodity commissions have new appointees to the board. We are personally visiting each board member to introduce them to new staff and to get the meetings on their calendars for the 2019/2020 grant year. 2. Networking with UGA Extension Twenty new agents were given trainig on Agrability in Georgia Services. UGA extension provide an Innovation Grant that was competitively won to develop the Mobile Learning Center 6. Networking with NAP and SRAP's Quality of Life: During this reporting period, the Georgia AgrAbility team actively participated in the NAP Quality of Life Research Study, which includes attending the quarterly NAP Evaluation Committee meetings and forwarding pre/post data to the Evaluation Chair as requested. Since September 1, 2018 approximately 20 farmers have been invited to participate in the QOL Research Study, along with five farmers who were requested to complete the post-service QOL questionnaire. Georgia's Quality of Life Coordinator regularly reviewed the completed questionnaires to note trends and specific farmer needs, and provided resources to each farmer as requested. For this reporting period, the following trends were identified among the pre-service QOL questionnaire responses: Younger farmers, including veterans, tend to rate their emotional well-being more positively than the farmers who are older and who have been farming longer; Achieving life goals and feeling control over life are the two emotional well-being measures that farmers appear to have the most concern with, regardless of age or farming experience; Physical pain, immobility, difficulty getting up and down, walking, and balance issues are the symptoms that are identified the most as being the most troublesome; Ability to complete chores on the farm, as well as their ability to change or modify equipment in order to accommodate their needs are the areas farmers appear to be the most concerned with on the Independent Living and Work portion of the questionnaire. MARKETING 1. Work with Media to Have Farmer Stories Featured We had two farmer stories shared in the media and four media ads estimated reach of 26,000 (based on 18% of total circulation reached). 2. Use Mailing List to Engage Audiences The project's website has an option to sign up for the mailing list. There are currently over 600 subscribers. 3. Utilize website to market services Webinar and class registrations are handled through the website. Customer stories and resources are also avaiable for the general public. 4. Social Media Engagement The project has an active Facebook page with over 400 "friends". It has been an effective tool to share stories and events of the project and for friends of the project to connect with one another.
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