After a great monthly meeting with Arthritis Foundation (AF) partners in the Pacific and Southern California Regions, CalAgrAbility developed a strategy for piloting "Taking the Reins" arthritis workshops. CalAgrAbility staff has successfully completed "Taking the Reins: Working and Living with Arthritis for Farm Communities" (Spanish version). In June staff piloted the Spanish version with about 50 participants in 4 sessions in 2 Fresno County communities. The Pacific Region AF coordinator conducted a day-long arthritis exercise training for CalAg at University of California, Davis. As CalAgrAbility receives more requests for "Taking the Reins," the program needed to incorporate an exercise section. AF provided exercise books (in Spanish and English) and demonstrated proper, safe movements and training tips for farm audiences.
In addition, outreach staff participated in heat stress trainings for farmers and employees in Modesto and Santa Rosa. This provided an opportunity to network with local farmers and agencies to promote CalAgrAbility. Cal-OSHA and the local farm bureaus sponsored the workshops.
CalAgrAbility bilingual outreach representatives attended training on how to integrate various media into future presentations. Through hands-on experience they learned how to incorporate multimedia into CalAgrAbility workshops and presentations and how to use media like blogs effectively to communicate farm safety messages.
Submitted by Martha Stiles