USDA supports health education programs for people living in rural areas

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) today announced support for health education projects for individuals and families living in rural areas. Funding is made through NIFA's Rural Health and Safety Education (RHSE) Competitive Grant Program.

"Cooperative Extension is a key partner in supporting the health of rural communities," said NIFA Director Sonny Ramaswamy. "Through these investments, we help extension agents and land-grant universities reach rural communities with evidence-based education that can help people improve their health and quality of life."

The Rural Health and Safety Education Competitive Grant Program seeks to address the needs of rural Americans through individual and family health education programs delivered via cooperative extension. The program supports effective, evidence-based, non-formal education programs and services informed by the human, social, and behavioral sciences to promote and enhance rural health, strengthen economic vitality and, in the long run, mitigate the effects of rural poverty. Projects are funded to develop or implement individual and family health education programs that help rural communities address significant health issues. The priority is prevention and reduction of opioid abuse. Chronic disease prevention and management is also an area of focus.

The latest grants include a project in which the Arkansas Agricultural Extension Service will partner with a network of health providers and volunteers to develop complementary and alternative pain management interventions to prevent opioid abuse among rural residents of Arkansas. A Virginia Polytechnic Institute Cooperative Extension team seeks to scale up two evidence-based opioid prevention approaches for youth and hospital patient outreach programs.

Overall, nine grants totaling $2.8million were awarded in FY2017. They are:

• University of Arkansas Agricultural Extension Service, Little Rock, Arkansas, $321,912
• University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, $318,575
• Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, $322,000
• Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, $321,946
• Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas, $317,383
• Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, Mississippi, $310,183
• North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, $322,000
• Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, $322,000
• Virginia Polytechnic Institute Cooperative Extension, Blacksburg, Virginia, $321,638

Source: https://nifa.usda.gov/announcement/usda-helps-rural-communities-thrive-health-and-safety-outreach