The PIE Center collaborated with the Southeastern Coastal Center for Agricultural Health and Safety (SCCAHS) to curate a multitude of resources for farmworkers, employers, communicators and extension professionals in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Photo courtesy of IFAS Communications.
“The PIE Center provided leadership in creating and coordinating COVID-19 resource materials, including PowerPoint slides, videos, downloadable print materials and the COVID-19 web page,” said PIE Center director Ricky Telg.
The PIE Center and the SCCAHS conducted survey research to identify the needs of the agricultural sector, extension faculty and concerns of the general public. The SCCAHS Outreach Core then gathered and developed several resources, including a series of videos in English and Spanish, to address the needs and concerns identified in the research. The outreach core also developed a webpage to house all of these resources.
Educational resources from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the SCCAHS, departments of health, departments of agriculture and other groups related to agricultural health and safety and COVID-19 were housed on this webpage.
“We have been able to help agriculture producers and farmworkers by producing these materials that are being used in Extension, and by agricultural organizations and the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to provide important information that protects agriculture workers,” Telg said. “We are at the table with major agriculture companies and FDACS as a partner in providing information to keep our agriculture workers as safe as possible during the pandemic.”
The resources have been categorized for specific audiences or resource types. These resources include recommendations for farmworkers and employers, risk prevention, communication resources, and extension resources. Resources aretargeted to agricultural producers, farm workers and extension faculty and agents located in the Southeast region of the United States. Resources
include PowerPoint slide sets, fact sheets, social media content, posters, videos and radio PSAs. Many of these materials are provided in English and Spanish.
Angie Lindsey, assistant professor of family, youth and community sciences at the University of Florida, was also instrumental in connecting
the center with Extension and providing resources to meet their needs. Lindsey is also the Florida point of contact for the national Extension Disaster Education Network (EDEN).
“I get a lot of information and a lot of resources,” Lindsey said. “I collect all this information and, once a week, I go through all the information
I receive and determine if it is something that may be helpful to our UF/IFAS family and our communities and if the information is from a reputable, reliable source.”
These efforts have also been consistently communicated via email campaigns and social media posts to stakeholders, the center’s Community Stakeholder Advisory Board and the general public.
“We have received great feedback from these efforts and it allows us to share resources from other programs and states,” Lindsey said.
SCCAHS explores and addresses the occupational safety and health needs of people working in agriculture, fishing and forestry in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. The PIE Center plays an essential role in serving the communication and outreach needs of this group of people.
This story was part of the 2019-2020 Annual Report. Click the button below to read other stories included in the report.
