A national survey of rural development stakeholders identified health as a priority recovery and growth in rural America. Investing in Rural Recovery: Findings from a Rapid Assessment of Stakeholder Priorities for Rural Development summarizes the results of a national survey conducted in the fall of 2021 by the nation's four Regional Rural Development Centers. The survey is part of a year-long Listening Session Initiative aimed at identifying key priorities and critical investments for rural...

"The Lancet Countdown is an international collaboration that independently monitors the health consequences of a changing climate. Publishing updated, new, and improved indicators each year, the Lancet Countdown represents the consensus of leading researchers from 43 academic institutions and UN agencies. The 44 indicators of this report expose an unabated rise in the health impacts of climate change and the current health consequences of the delayed and inconsistent response of countries...

USDA-National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s Rural Health and Safety Education Competitive Grants ( RHSE ) program supports quality of life in rural communities across the United States by addressing the needs of rural Americans’ individual and family health and safety in the context of food, agriculture, natural resources, and human sciences. RHSE fosters, improves, and coordinates education programs among Federal agencies, other levels of government, and institutions and private...

Cooperative Extension's National Framework for Health Equity and Well-Being is designed to serve as a roadmap for advancing the health-focused work of the Cooperative Extension System. The updated framework was approved by the Extension Committee on Organization and Policy (ECOP) in July of 2021. The framework document resulted from more than a year of work by a work group of the Health Innovation Task Force of ECOP. This framework is organized around three core themes. These are health...

Has your land grant institution implemented an innovation that has accelerated Cooperative Extension’s work to advance health and well being? If so, we want to help you tell that story of innovation and the difference it is making in your state. The Well Connected Communities Initiative, administered through National 4-H Council with the generous support of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, will provide seven land grant universities with $25,000 each to perform a case study of a successful...

The 2022 National Health Outreach Conference (NHOC) will be held May 4-6 in Kansas City, MO. Be sure to put those dates on your calendar now, so that you won't miss out on Cooperative Extension's annual health-focused conference. The conference will focus on the long-term goals of improving population health and achieving equity in health status. Conference sessions will focus on the powerful roles of employment, education, income, housing, access to healthy foods, the physical environment,...

The opioid epidemic is a national issue impacting communities across the country. It was declared a public health emergency in October 2017. Communities have mobilized at the national, state, and local level to address the problem, and Cooperative Extension has partnered with them in their efforts. The drivers and impacts of the opioid crisis in communities are complex and require a multi-level response. We employed a stakeholder engagement methodology, the SEED Method , to create...

Life expectancy in the United States continued its downward trend in 2020 to just over 77 years of age. This marks a 1.5 year decline from 2019 when US life expectancy stood at 78.8 years. Deaths from COVID -19 accounted for the majority of the decline. The decline would have been far worse had it not been for a reduction in deaths from cancer. Declines in life expectancy among various groups showed disturbing inequities with people of Hispanic origin showing the greatest decline of three...

As Extension professionals working with a variety of audiences it is crucial that we take a good, hard look at our broccoli. That's not a typo; read on to see what I'm talking about!

Don't miss the opportunity to submit a proposal for a health-related project to be considered for support through the New Technologies for Agricultural Extension (NTAE) accelerator program. Through this offering, early stage Extension work that has clear goals and a solid platform for greater success can apply to receive a suite of support services through the Extension Foundation to accelerate a project's impact and scale. Selected projects will receive mentoring and support in the areas of...

If you haven't visited the Health and Well-Being subgroup in the last several days, you will notice a brand new look to the welcome page the next time you log in. The first thing that you will now see is a listing of twelve affinity groups where you can connect with others who share a specific area of interest. You can navigate to the the affinity group of interest to you by simply clicking on the corresponding image. One there, you can initiate a discussion around a topic of your choice by...

Over the past year, the COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare the crucial role of childcare within a strong economy – as many parents, primarily women, have been forced to choose between earning a living or caring for their out-of-school children. Sadly, this is nothing new for rural places. Rural areas face unique childcare challenges. Providing quality, licensed center-based services in many rural places is not financially viable; the business model relies on sufficient population density and a...