Competing Roles and Expectations: Preliminary Data from an Agricultural Extension Survey on COVID-19 Impacts

ABSTRACT

Agricultural Extension professionals play a critical role in outreach and translation of research to practice. Extension has not only been an audience for Agricultural Safety and Health Center work, but also an essential partner in promoting evidence-based farm health and safety in communities. This commentary stems from a collaborative effort among Center leaders across the nation who developed a set of surveys to explore the ways COVID-19 has affected Extension professionals. Preliminary data gathered from across the nation suggest that while many Extension professionals feel prepared to address challenges from the pandemic and are well supported by their State and Center’s resources, over half also reported moderate to great difficulty in balancing personal and professional needs and, to a lesser extent, balancing remote work and family needs. Because Extension professionals act as connectors between Agricultural Safety and Health Centers and farmers and their families, they serve in a role similar to first-responders. COVID-19 has exacerbated the potential for anxiety, stress, and other mental health concerns among this group. With COVID-19 numbers rising at an especially fast rate among agricultural workers, it is important to attend to the wellbeing of the professionals who work with them.

KEYWORDS:

• COVID-19
• agricultural safety and health
• NIOSH
• collaboration
• Extension

Acknowledgments

The Agricultural Safety and Health Centers workgroup is a joint effort between the 10 NIOSH funded AFF Centers and the National Children’s Center. This workgroup includes the following:

• Northeast Center for Occupational Health and Safety (Bassett Healthcare) – Julie Sorenson, Anne Gadomski, Nancy Tallman, Melissa Scribani

• High Plains Intermountain Center for Agricultural Health and Safety (Colorado State University)—Annie Keeney

• National Children’s Center for Rural and Agricultural Health and Safety (National Farm Medicine Center) – Andrea Swenson

• Western Center for Agricultural Health and Safety (University of California, Davis) – Rebeca Espinosa Giacinto, Stacey Neves, Heather Riden

• Southeastern Coastal Center for Agricultural Health and Safety* (University of Florida) – Sebastian Galindo, Cassandra Ward

• Great Plains Center for Agricultural Health (University of Iowa) – Marsha Cheyney

• Southeast Center for Agricultural Health and Injury Prevention* (University of Kentucky) – Shannon Sampson, Joan Mazur

• Upper Midwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center (University of Minnesota) – Amy Pekol, Devon Charlier

• Central States Center for Agricultural Safety and Health* (University of Nebraska Medical Center) – Mary Cramer, Athena Ramos, Mary Wendl

• Southwest Center for Agricultural Health, Injury Prevention and Education (University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler) – Amanda Wickman

• Pacific Northwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center* (University of Washington)- Marcy Harrington, Douglas Brock

• CDC/NIOSH- Donjanea Williams, Amia Downes

*These Centers distributed the Extension survey, but all have participated in its development.

The research and manuscript preparation were supported by NIOSH Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing Cooperative Agreement 6 U54 OH007547. The contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health [6 U54 OH007547], [1 U54 OH011230 - 01].