Addressing agricultural issues in health care education: an occupational therapy curriculum program description.
BACKGROUND
Medical and allied health professionals who work in agricultural states frequently address the needs of clients who live and work in rural and frontier environments. The primary occupations of those living in rural areas include farming, ranching, or other agriculture-related work. Farming is consistently ranked as one of the most high-risk occupations for work-related injuries and accidents; therefore, it is critical that health education programs include content to prepare future medical and health professionals to work with this population.
This paper describes the rural issues component of the occupational therapy curriculum at The University of South Dakota. This rural issues module is designed to provide occupational therapists with training about the physical, temporal, and sociocultural aspects of production agriculture and the impact these have on the health and well-being of the agricultural population. It also addresses the occupational therapy implications for farmers and ranchers who have disabilities. Student assessments of the course content have been above average.


CONCLUSIONS
Training in agricultural health enables our occupational therapy students to be well prepared for work in the rural and frontier areas of South Dakota and other rural locations.
Smallfield
Stacy
S
Department of Occupational Therapy, The University of South Dakota, Vermillion, SD 57069, USA. Stacy.Smallfield@usd.edu
Anderson
Angela J
AJ
D000383:Agriculture; D003479:Curriculum; D006233:Persons with Disabilities; D006801:Humans; D016272:Occupational Health; D009786:Occupational Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration; D009788:Occupational Therapy / Q000193:education*; D015397:Program Evaluation; D019035:Rural Health Services; D012424:Rural Population; D013023:South Dakota; D000078329:Workforce