Community & Economic Development
Core Area: Community & Economic Development
Currently networking with the following organizations
- Amboy, Dixon & Paw Paw Chamber of Commerce
- City of Amboy
- Dixon Industrial Development Corporation
- Lee County Farm Bureau
- Lee County Health Department
- Lee County Housing Authority
- Lee County Soil & Water Conservation District
- Sauk Valley Community College
- USDA-FSA/NRCS
Focus On: Rural Health
In January, Lee County Extension and DeKalb County Farm Bureau partnered with the University of Illinois College of Medicine (Rockford) on a study of rural health perceptions. Eight focus groups met January through March 2006 to discuss rural healthcare.
Each focus group involved three to five couples who are directly involved in production agriculture. The couples were asked a series of questions about their definitions of rural health, chronic disease and injury. Group discussion ranged from personal experience with life-threatening injuries, insurance coverage and general attitude about the profession of farming. The purpose of this study is to help health care workers better understand how farmers and their wives make decisions about seeking health care.
