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INVESTIGATOR: McMoran, D.

PERFORMING INSTITUTION:
WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY
240 FRENCH ADMINISTRATION BLDG
PULLMAN, WASHINGTON 99164-0001

WESTERN REGIONAL AGRICULTURAL STRESS ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (WRASAP)

NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: Farmers and ag workers face unique stressors; the CDC results on deaths by suicide per capita (by occupation) reveal that these stressors can have tragic effects. Farmers, ag workers and their families will benefit from a stress assistance program tailored to the specific needs of this population. The first step is the creation of the Western Regional Agricultural Stress Assistance Program (WRASAP). Program activities are directly tied to the goals of this FRSAN as they share the following objectives:•Establish a diverse, regionally-representative network of member organizations.•Develop a clearinghouse of farmer assistance programs in the region.•Educate your region about FRSAN activities and how they can access and use existing resources and programs in their work with agricultural workers and communities under stress.WRASAP partners consist of: Washington State University Skagit County Extension, Oregon State University Extension, Volunteers of America Western Washington and Washington State Department of Health.The trusted network of WSU and OSU Extension services provides avenues for outreach which coincide with preexisting points of outreach for this otherwise hard to reach community (workshops and field days, farm trainings, etc.).Volunteers of America and WA DOH have the behavioral health expertise, relationships with networks of service providers and the institutional capacity to host crisis hotlines, link people to resources and provide trainings. These partners are well poised to address stress management in agriculture.

OBJECTIVES: Suicide rates among farmers, ranchers, agricultural managers and agricultural workers exceed the national average at alarming rates. To combat and reverse this trend requires a network of behavioral health organizations and agricultural experts to work in unison; providing education on existing resources and bringing targeted, culturally appropriate materials and trainings to the agricultural community.While issues stemming from extreme stress impact all farmers across the country, each region faces unique issues and the web of available services can vary widely. This FRSAN's program activities will be focused in Washington and Oregon State.The three programmatic goals for the FRSAN are as follows:Objective 1: Establish a diverse, regionally-representative network of member organizations. This proposed FRSAN is based in Oregon and Washington State, an area diverse in geography, industry, population and agricultural commodities. To best serve the farmers and ag workers in these states, this FRSAN partner profile is composed of two Land Grant University Extension services as well as Volunteers of America Western Washington (VOA WW) and Washington State Department of Health (WA DOH). Both Washington State University and Oregon State University Extension services have ties to the respective diverse farming communities.Objective 2: Develop a clearinghouse of farmer assistance programs in the region. Objective 3: Educate individuals/team in your region about FRSAN activities and how they can access and use existing resources and programs in their work with agricultural workers and communities under stress.

APPROACH: WRASAP will develop an Evaluation team to develop a performance assessment plan and direct WRASAP on how to best structure outcomes measurements based on program activities. This Evaluation Team will be led by a WSU Evaluation specialist and consist of members from partner groups (WSU, OSU and VOA WW) which will create the surveys associated with outcome monitoring, evaluate the efficacy of education and networking objectives and report success of those impacted by direct assistance as appropriate.a&b. The Evaluation Team will also explore ways to measure how farmers in this region access the systems currently available that overlap with this FSRAN's objective of addressing farm related stress. These resources could include but are not limited to: Agriculture Mediation Program, Crop Insurance Mediation, state and national substance abuse programs, Mental Health Services Agencies, farmworker housing authorities, etc.WRASAP will also consult the other FRSAN programs regarding performance assessment measures, in pursuit of identifying best practices and coordinating evaluation measures to provide national results.

PROGRESS: 2019/09 TO 2020/08
Target Audience:As the causes of stress can vary across farming populations, commodity groups and geographics regions, etc., Program efforts pursued outreach to a variety of target audiences. These efforts aimed to address excessive stress in agriculture, reduce stigma and point audiences to relevant resources for crisis support and referrals for upstream interventions specific to the target audiences. Partnering with organizations like Viva Farms, Growing Veterans and WA Department of Veterans Affairs, program efforts reached audiences which include: Latinx farmers, new and beginning farmers and veteran farmers in Washington state. Program efforts reached specific commodity groups via presentations at commodity workshops series. With audiences in Western Washington, these commodity farmers include berry farmers, potato farmers and seed farmers. Coordinating efforts with the Washington Farm Bureau and local regional chapters, Program presented to Farm Bureau members across Washington state on issues of excessive stress and relevant resources. Robust efforts provided to WSU Extension personnel as they are embedded in every county throughout the state, often working directly with farmers. Efforts aimed to address excessive stress in agriculture, equip Extension staff to identify the warning signs and risk of suicide and equip them with the skills to address or offer referral for crisis assistance. Changes/Problems:All major challenges for this program relate to either the contract initiation date or Covid-19. Contracts: While the anticipated start date was September 2019, program activity was hampered as the contract with USDA and WSU was not initiated until Spring 2020. Program has applied for and received a No Cost Extension allowing for program activity to span until September 2021. This also impacted the activities related to subawards. Of particular note, the timeline for activities and deliverables have been pushed back by two or more quarters. Covid-19: At the time funds became available, much of the country was reacting to Covid-19 and mandates to stay home. As events were cancelled and travel prohibited, this impacted the ability of this new program with network and provide outreach. What follows is an overview of adjustments made by goal: Goal 1: In an effort to build a network of organizations to address excessive stress in agriculture, Program aimed to host 4 strategic planning meetings, at which, organizations from historically underrepresented farming audiences would be invited. As Covid-19 interrupted the travel schedule since spring 2020, Program pivoted these stakeholder meetings, opting for a series of smaller 1 on 1 virtual meetings. Additionally, many of the organizations identified by the Program for stakeholder meetings and Networking were occupied with switching to virtual service delivery and responding to the constituent needs in the uncertainty of the pandemic related economic shutdown. Goal 2: Program partner, Volunteers of America Western Washington, is the lead in cataloging and publishing of the Clearinghouse of stress management resources. This deliverable has taken longer than expected, due in part to the confluence of the slow contract and subcontract process and need to respond to Covid-19 related community needs. Volunteers of America Western Washington operates the local 2-1-1 community resource as well as local operators for the National Suicide Prevention Hotline, both services experienced dramatic increase in usership to respond to Covid-19 and the impacts of the Stay Home, Stay Healthy mandate from Washington State. Clearinghouse deliverable is on track to be published in January 2021. Goal 3:It was anticipated that Program partners would need to travel throughout the region and allocated funds as such. As public health has recommended travel for essential reasons only, these funds will be allocated to operations related to providing outreach, networking and education virtually (in accordance with USDA contract and management). What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Opportunities for training include team members receiving QPR Gatekeeper training and team members completing the Michigan State University, Communicating with Farmers in Stressful Times Curriculum. Additionally, Program offers QPR to every network partner or similar organization. Much of the Professional Development activities relate to the events listed in activities and include participation and presentation at workshops, conferences and seminars. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Program findings, relevant resources, trainings, events and opportunities for collaboration are communicated to communities of interest through Network meetings, partner websites, media coverage and listserves. Program has participated in the regional FRSAN awardee meetings in 2019 and 2020 and plans to report findings to the ongoing Western Regional Agricultural Stress Assistance Program newsletter as it develops. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Goal 1: In the upcoming performance period, Program will continue efforts on identifying new organizations to add to Network. Targeted focus for expanding the Network will include organizations relevant to Latinx farmers and farm workers. Program has added staff expertise relevant to these communities and anticipates an increase in collaboration with such organizations and availability of Spanish resources. Goal 2: The Clearinghouse of resources will be published on the 2-1-1 website hosted by the Program partner, Volunteers of America Western Washington in January 2021. This will be linked to the existing WSU farm stress website and the OSU farm stress site which will also be published in January 2021. Organizations and other relevant resources identified throughout ongoing program activity will be added accordingly. Goal 3: Program will continue to update current and new Network members on program activity, available resources and events/trainings relevant to addressing excessive stress in agriculture. This will happen on the WSU and OSU farm stress websites, at speaking events, meetings, conferences and workshops. Program will continue to offer QPR trainings or other suicide prevention trainings to Network members, groups working with farmers, ranchers, farm workers and rural communities with specific focus on Washington and Oregon.

IMPACT: 2019/09 TO 2020/08
What was accomplished under these goals? Goal 1: In an effort to build a network of organizations to address excessive stress in agriculture, Program aimed to host 4 strategic planning meetings, at which, organizations from historically underrepresented farming audiences would be invited. As Covid-19 interrupted the travel schedule since spring 2020, Program pivoted these stakeholder meetings, opting for a series of smaller 1 on 1 meetings. Current Network includes representation from all 13 states and 4 territories in the Western Region, including NIOSH health centers, land grant universities, state departments of agriculture and nonprofits. Current Network listserve represents over 300 organizations. Goal 2: Organizations identified in network activities as well as other relevant stakeholders have been identified and collated into a clearinghouse if resources. These resources will be publicly available and searchable in January 2021 on the VOA WW website dedicated to farmers and ag workers in the Western Region. Goal 3: Includes efforts to educate team members and Network on availability of and how to access resources. Since September 2020, Program has held monthly meetings for FRSAN Network members highlighting program activity updates, upcoming events, major partners and available resources. This information is also shared when Program presents at ag events and to farming or stakeholder community groups.

PUBLICATIONS (not previously reported): 2019/09 TO 2020/08
No publications reported this period.