Collaborating for Success and Quality of Life
For the past five years AgrAbility Virginia has been a program of Virginia Tech, partnered with Easter Seals Virginia. In a broader sense, however, the program’s work is dependent upon the collaboration of Virginia’s Rural Rehabilitation Partnership, which includes Virginia Tech Cooperative Extension, Virginia Department of Rehabilitative Services, Woodrow Wilson Rehabilitation Center, Centers for Independent Living, The Virginia Arthritis Action Coalition, Virginia Rural Health Association, and Virginia Farm Bureau.  Through fostering close partnerships with these organizations, AgrAbility Virginia is able to provide services to the entire state, bringing assistive technology and rehabilitative solutions to their clients.  In return, Virginia AgrAbility provides insight and expertise to these partners, serving as a resource for information on working with farmers and ranchers with disabilities.

One of the most prevalent medical problems among Virginians, particularly those working in agriculture, is arthritis.  In fact, The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP) reports that Virginia has 1,539,000 individuals with medically diagnosed arthritis; that is, one out of every four Virginians. For this reason, Virginia AgrAbility became an active member of the Virginia Arthritis Action Coalition (VAAC), a group of agencies throughout Virginia dedicated to advancing treatments, therapies, education, and public policies for individuals suffering from arthritis.  The VAAC, a program within the Virginia Department of Public Health Chronic Disease division, was formed in 2000, and shortly thereafter recruited AgrAbility Virginia to provide a rural and agricultural perspective with regard to arthritis.

2007Annual Arthritis Summit Living Well With Arthritis
On May 11, 2007 in Richmond, VA, Virginia AgrAbility and other members of the Virginia Arthritis Action Coalition held their second annual Arthritis Summit. This annual conference is meant to be a forum for current information and practices concerning arthritis, as well as a means of raising awareness of arthritis as a public health issue. The summit brought together physicians, other health professionals, and community members.  Some of the forum topics were: pharmacological therapy, dealing with pain management, adapting your environment, maintaining healthy joints, managing self-healing through water, fibromyalgia, and breakthroughs in joint replacement surgery.  In addition, Karen Funkenbusch from the University of Missouri and AgrAbility Missouri held a lunch time discussion on rural health development.

By participating in and collaborating on awareness raising events such as this summit, AgrAbility Virginia hopes to make headway in addressing the needs of the many farmers and farm workers with arthritis.