CalAg's regularly-scheduled arthritis exercise workshops will continue at Clinca Tepati, RISE Inc. in Esparto and Winters, and for the Fibro Friends Fibromyalgia Group. Demand for Spanish and English workshops continues to grow. Staff members are also planning to train representatives from each organization to lead the Arthritis Land Exercise Program. This will be a "quasi-promotores" approach in order to have more classes available for rural communities.
CalAg staff have renewed their CPR training to continue leading the exercise classes and attended local workshops and training on the Affordable Health Care Act as well as Covered California. The new laws affect many of the program's consumers,, both single farmers as well as those with children. Especially affected by the changes are those with low incomes.
Staff also participated in the webinar, "Women in Agricultural Work: Are They Different?" sponsored by AgriSafe. About 30% of CalAgrAbility consumers are female. Major problems faced by women in agriculture are the failure to recognize their role as workers and the assumption that women's work is safe.
Submitted by Martha Stiles