Missouri

Missouri AgrAbility participated in Suicide Prevention Month and Farm Safety Week to help raise awareness and provide resources to MO AgrAbility's following and farmers. The following is ever growing, and in the month of September MO AgrAbility's Facebook earned 2023 total impressions, Tweets earned 3,400 impressions, and their Instagram post had 819 impressions. Check out Missouri AgrAbility on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @MOAgrAbility.

Submitted by Tevin Uthlaut, MU Extension

MU Extension staff members provided education and networking activities to educate participants about AgrAbility eligibility criteria for services, ergonomic tools that help to make farming easier, and the Internet of Things (IoT) introduced by demonstrating advanced technologies and robotics. Missouri-specific stress, depression, and suicide prevention materials, as well as opioid resources, were given to all participants. Pre- and post-evaluations were also facilitated.

On September 24, AgrAbility clients learned about ergonomic tools, proper body mechanics, and hand/foot protection. Twenty-eight lady landowners and six women veterans also learned farming techniques about urban agriculture (program materials provided by The Ohio State University), Women in Woodland (WOW), and EQUIP program, as well as other programs outlined in the Farm Bill.

Submitted by Karen Funkenbusch, MU Extension

Pharm to Farm and University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Pharmacy (UMKC SOP), Missouri AgrAbility collaborative partners, provided free point-of-care health screenings at the Farm Safety Day hosted by Missouri Extension and Missouri AgrAbility for the Mennonite community in Fortuna, MO. Seven students from UMKC SOP traveled to Fortuna to provide screenings and wellness education on how to manage blood glucose and blood pressure. The 31 participants of the screenings were provided with Missouri AgrAbility resource materials, as well as educational materials about healthy sleep habits, stroke prevention, falls prevention, farm equipment safety, and hearing loss prevention strategies. Eight participants were referred to seek primary care and provided addresses of local health care facilities in their surrounding area for follow-up.

Submitted by Kelly Cochran, Pharm to Farm

Lincoln University's Innovative Small Farmers Outreach Program (ISFOP), in collaboration with the University of Missouri, has been busy throughout the month of September. David Middleton and Nahshon Bishop spoke to 1,500 high school and college students, highlighting farm technology and safety during the annual Southwest Center Field day on the University of Missouri's Mt. Vernon Research Campus, September 12.

Susan Jaster attended the 2019 Veteran Mental Health, Suicide Prevention, and Resiliency Summit on September 11 at the Kaufman Foundation Conference Center in Kansas City, MO. She set up a display to promote Missouri AgrAbility and the Brain Injury Association of Missouri. There were several sessions that pertained to female veterans. Susan led the one-hour discussion over lunch about farmer veterans with suicidal conflicts. One hundred fifty participants attended the summit whose primary job responsibility is suicide prevention in the Kansas City Region.
Susan also attended the NASHIA Conference at the Crown Plaza Center in Kansas City, MO, on September 25. At this conference, she participated as a panel member who discussed collaboration, successes, and challenges of official collaborating partners of the NASHIA in Missouri. The partners are Brain Injury Association of Missouri, Department of Health and Senior Services, University of Missouri Kansas City, and MO AgrAbility. Susan represented and presented the Missouri AgrAbility Project.

Submitted by Shon Bishop and Susan Jaster, Innovative Small Farmers Outreach Program, Lincoln University Cooperative Extension

Maureen Cunningham, BIA-MO, and Susan Jaster, Lincoln University, presented at the National Association of State Head Injury Administrators Conference on September 25. They discussed collaborative efforts for the Missouri AgrAbility Project with BIA-MO, Lincoln University, Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, and Missouri Extension.

Submitted by Maureen Cunningham, Brain Injury Association of Missouri, Inc.