Section 4: State Project Feature

Connecting with Map

The Minnesota AgrAbility Project has been going strong since 1991. It began with the director of the Rural Rehab Technology, Inc. (RRT), a private, non-profit organization, receiving a grant from the Minnesota STAR program to increase assistive technology awareness among rural and farm families in 29 Minnesota counties. RRT joined the Goodwill/Easter Seals and AgrAbility families in 1992.

Today, the Minnesota AgrAbility Project (MAP) serves all 87 Minnesota counties through the collaborative efforts of Goodwill/Easter Seals Minnesota and the University of Minnesota Extension Service (UMES). Rural Rehab Technology (RRT) is now a program of Goodwill/Easter Seals Minnesota providing assistive technology assessment and training services to rural Minnesotans.

Project Staff

Beth Zabel, O.T.R., is program manager and is assisted by Wayne Onken, M.S., C.R.C. RRT's primary focus is the MAP activities. The Farm Health and Safety Program, part of the University of Minnesota Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering and staffed by John Shutske, Ph.D., Michele Schermann, R.N., M.S., and Ruth Rasmussen, R.N., M.S., M.P.H., provides technical and programming support to MAP.

MAP provides information and referral, on-site visits, individualized assessment, education and support services for Minnesotans with disabilities whose goal to gain or maintain farming and/or farm-related occupations. MAP reaches out to farmers, farm family members, agricultural workers, rural health care providers, and agri-business leaders through award programs, educational presentations, regular mailings, collaborative service agreements, the Fenceline (peer support network), and most importantly, on-site visits.

Improving Services

MAP continues to improve its services through a number of new initiatives. One goal is expansion of partnering opportunities with agricultural and health care organizations. Farmers place a high value on interpersonal networks for securing information. Expanding the number of opportunities to meet with farmers one-on-one or in small groups will increase the effectiveness of efforts to prevent secondary injury and disability accommodation training. Using opportunities to make presentations at meetings/events of pre-established groups (e.g., traumatic brain injury and arthritis support groups, Farm Bureau, seed dealers) and within pre-existing health care systems (e.g., cardiac care programs, diabetes regional centers) will increase the credibility and accessibility of AgrAbility resources to farmers and agricultural workers.

Efficient and effective assessment is the goal of a partnership with Lifease, Inc. MAP is collaborating on a feasibility study on the conversion of a PC version of assessment software to a hand-held PDA format. The second stage of the collaboration will focus on integrating assessment results with assistive technology databases.

How farmers view safety messages and intervention methods is the focus of a study begun this year. Information from this study will be used to improve education and intervention methods.

The AgrAbility Project is going strong in Minnesota. MAP staff believes that farming in Minnesota is a meaningful way of life reflected in the huge grins and satisfied smiles of our AgrAbility participants. We are proud to be part of those moments in Minnesotans' lives.

Meet the MAP Staff

John Shutske is the University of Minnesota's Extension Agricultural Safety and Health Specialist, and is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering. John has been the project director for the Minnesota AgrAbility Project for ten years. Shutske has worked in a range of areas since arriving in Minnesota in late 1990. His work has included research and educational program development in areas related to children's injury prevention, development of sensor technologies to prevent machinery entanglements, and fire prevention on grain combines and tractors. John is a 1988 PhD graduate of Purdue University's Agricultural and Biological Engineering Department. To help pay his way through graduate school, John worked with Purdue's Breaking New Ground program and wrote several sections of the original BNG "gold" manual dealing with tractor lifts, hand controls, and other assistive technology features. John and his wife Kate have two sons, Michael (age 9) and Jack (age 6). He enjoys fishing and exploring in the woods near his home and in northeastern Minnesota.
Beth Zabel comes to AgrAbility with diverse experiences. She grew up on a farm in Southern Minnesota and has experience plowing, baling hay, walking beans, picking rocks and worrying about the rain. Beth has 18 years experience and training as an Occupational Therapist in a variety of settings including hospital-based in- and out-patient services and 10 years as a school-based therapist. Beth lives in New Ulm with her family.
Ruth Rasmussen is a Research Fellow, University of Minnesota, Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering. Her research activities include the planning, development, implementation and evaluation of farm safety programming. She also conducts extensive literature searches, resource investigations, needs assessments, interviews and evaluations of the conditions and services of rural Minnesota population. Ruth assists with the marketing and promotion of programs and materials.
Michele Schermann doesn't have a traditional, mainstream farm background, but she does have a degree in horticulture and worked in cotton fields in Texas, pollinated squash in Arkansas, and sold tropical plants to businesses and homeowners. Eventually she decided to return to Minnesota and get a Bachelors degree and a Masters degree in nursing. Michele's academic interests are in caring for persons with chronic illnesses (her research interests are people with fibromyalgia). She has been with the University of Minnesota Farm Safety and Health Program and Minnesota AgrAbility Program since 1996. When she's not busy working with AgrAbility staff, Hmong farmers, mainstream farmers, and students, Michele enjoys kayaking the Great Lakes, fly-fishing, cold weather camping, and eating.

BACK: Assistive Technology Notes

NEXT: Resources

In This Issue
Section 1: Client Story—Maintaining a Way of Life in Minnesota Section 2: Focus on Livestock Behavior Section 3: Assistive Technology Notes	Section 4: State Project Feature—Connecting with MAP Section 5: Resources