November 2022: AgrAbility PA Project Highlights
November in Pennsylvania was filled with fall temperatures and outreach events and presentations that took the staff around the state and beyond — to Indiana!
Abbie Spackman and Linda Fetzer attended the Connecting with Amish and Other Plain Communities conference in Shipshewana, Indiana. The conference was a great way to network with professionals from across the country, including colleagues with the National AgrAbility Project (NAP) as well as from the state of Pennsylvania. It was an excellent conference and the AgrAbility PA staff is excited to work on some new outreach activities and collaborations.
The same dynamic duo of Abbie Spackman and Linda Fetzer attended the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau’s 72nd Annual Meeting in Hershey, PA. During the event staff demonstrated assistive technology to attendees during the health fair and provided information on AgrAbility services. While AgrAbility staff demonstrated heated gloves, several farmers stopped by and mentioned that they already use these types of gloves and have found them to be incredibly helpful in keeping their hand warm following traumatic hand injuries. AgrAbility also presented a session on “Tool and Equipment Selection for Safety and Accessibility” during the conference.
Project Director Dr. Suzanna Windon presented informative sessions on several topics connected to AgrAbility throughout the month:
- November 4th, 2022 – “Managing Stress on the Farm” webinar was presented at the Professional Development session, AIAEE (Association of International Agricultural and Extension Education)
- November 14, 2022 – Managing Stress on the Farm – a webinar was delivered for PA Ag and natural resources stakeholders
- November 30 – Farmers’ Quality of Life and their Leadership Competencies – Oral research presentation presented at the 2022 National Association Of Extension Program and Staff Development annual conference