The Wisconsin Idea Award was given to the Shawano County Rural Health Initiative last Thursday for the program’s commitment to keeping Shawano County area farmers healthy.

The award is given every year by the University of Wisconsin Colleges and UW-Extension Chancellor David Wilson to a person or program that exemplifies a spirit of service for the citizens of Wisconsin.

“The award is given to honor individuals and organizations outside UW-Colleges and UW-Extensions that have made significant contributions to society, the economy, the environment or quality of life at the local, state and national level,” Laurie Boyce, academic program director and family living education professor with UW-Extension, said. “The eligible are people involved with (UW-Extension) programs to extend the Wisconsin Idea.”

The program that received the award this year has been offering free health screenings since 2004 to farmers and their families in Shawano County.

“No segment of Americans stands in greater need of improved health care than our farm families,” Rhonda Strebel, executive director of the initiative, said in a statement.

Strebel said in the statement approximately 18 percent of Wisconsin dairy farm families have no health insurance and 80 percent do not have insurance that covers preventative care.

As a result, farm families often avoid medical treatment for chronic conditions or do not seek preventative care — like blood pressure screenings or annual physicals — that could catch illness at an earlier, more treatable stage, Strebel said in the statement.

Strebel and others with the initiative have served over 300 farm families, providing services such as blood pressure screening and information on physical and mental health. They also address safety issues as part of their mission to improve and sustain health among farmers, said Linda Olson, UW-Extension professor of family living education.

“The rural health initiative started because people in community were looking at the fact that farmers did not have adequate insurance,” Olson said. “They only had catastrophic health insurance coverage but nothing for everyday wellness.”

Initially the program received funding from ThedaCare, Inc., a health care provider based in Appleton, and local agricultural businesses have since then sponsored the initiative.

“We’ve seen such a good partnership between agricultural businesses, ThedaCare and UW-Extensions working together in their own expertise to build the program,” Olson said. “Now when we talk to farmers in the program people are eating more fruits and veggies, exercising more, and in doing these things, they are working to lower their blood pressure and become healthier individuals.”