Wyoming AgrAbility Project

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Keeping Wyoming farmers and ranchers with disabilities working is the aim of a program being offered by the University of Wyoming Cooperative Extension Service (UW CES) and four partnering organizations.

The Wyoming AgrAbility Project seeks to help the more than 4,000 estimated Wyoming farm and ranch members who may have a disability, said Professor Randy Weigel, UW CES human development specialist in the College of Agriculture’s Department of Family and Consumer Sciences and AgrAbility project director.

Weigel said services are provided free-of-charge and include:

* identifying farmers and ranchers with disabilities and referring them to appropriate resources;
* providing on-site technical assessment on adapting and using agricultural equipment and tools, and modifying farm operations and buildings;
* providing agriculture-based education to help prevent further injury and disability;
* providing training for health and agricultural professionals to upgrade their skills in assisting farmers and ranchers with disabilities, and
* developing and coordinating peer-support networks.

Wyoming’s large geographic area and low population offer unique challenges to help rural residents who need assistance.

“The support system varies widely in the state,” he noted. “Wyoming doesn’t have a lot of access to services specifically for farmers and ranchers with disabilities. The project is a way to connect those agencies that do provide assistive technology, disability or rehabilitation services with those in the ag population who face disabilities.”

The farm and ranch segment of the population is sometimes challenging to work with, Weigel said. “You can be 80, stoved-up and hardly be able to walk, but you are not disabled. You are a farmer,” he said. “Sometimes they don’t realize services are out there. They are very proud and often reluctant to seek help.”

The Wyoming AgrAbility Project focus is not just on physical disabilities but can also include cognitive and emotional disabilities. Those with conditions such as diabetes, arthritis and severe depression can utilize the services of the AgrAbility project. Partnering agencies in AgrAbility include UW’s Wyoming INstitute for Disabilities (WIND), Gottsche Rehabilitation Center of Thermopolis, Wyoming Independent Living Rehabilitation and the Center for Rural Health Research and Education. WIND will provide the leadership for assistive technology (AT) information, education, training and assistance.

“In addition to AT services, WIND will support AgrAbility through several programs,” according to Sandy Root-Elledge, WIND coordinator of community education.

Assistive technology device loans, demonstrations, recycling, information and referral, assessments and training will be available from WIND. Staff members will collaborate with UW’s College of Engineering students to provide assistive technology expertise and ideas for the development of senior design projects that may benefit Wyoming ranchers and farmers with disabilities. No-interest loans to purchase AT will be made available, and search capabilities for AgrAbility programs and services will be identified.

Gottsche Rehabilitation Center will provide on-site assessment and occupational therapy support for the project. “AgrAbility will offer services tailored to meet the needs of the agricultural population,” said Sarah Perry, an occupational therapist with Gottsche Rehabilitation Center.

“This program can provide the comprehensive service package to help a farm or ranch family affected by a disability to continue making a productive living in that occupation,” she said. “It would provide ways to adapt aspects of the farm and ranch to allow the person with a disability to resume normal daily activities.”

The AgrAbility project is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service. Congress authorized the project in the 1990 Farm Bill.

According to Weigel, “The intent is to have the AgrAbility project coordinator in place by mid-spring allowing for one point of contact.”

For more information about AgrAbility, or if anyone knows of someone who might benefit from the services of the Wyoming AgrAbility Project, contact Weigel at (307) 766-4186 or e-mail at weig@uwyo.edu.