Conferences
The Health and Wealth Connection and Implications for Extension Professionals
Maria Pippidis and Suzanne Bartholomae
Summary
Resilience is the ability to manage physical, mental, financial, and human resources, as well as perceptions of one’s environment, and it is what helps people cope with all the challenges that farm life presents. Financial concerns tend to be a key stressor for farm audiences, and many individuals are reluctant to access health care services. Yet, health and wealth stability are foundational to accessing, experiencing, and sustaining a sense of overall well-being. Substantial scholarship across several disciplines demonstrates this strong connection of health – whether it is physical or mental – and wealth, often used interchangeably with financial well-being. Extension professionals are uniquely positioned to build initiatives that help individuals make positive changes to enhance their well-being by leveraging this health-wealth connection. This presentation will offer an overview of key research in this area, starting with definitions and a discussion of pathways linking health and financial well-being. It will then explore implications for Extension programming, followed by practical applications of resilience concepts in agricultural risk management education. Together, these insights can support more effective, integrated approaches to building resilience among farm families and agricultural communities.
Details
| Conference | 2026 Extension Risk Management Education National Conference |
| Presentation Type | 30-Minute Concurrent |