zes the health and safety status of aging farmers in the United States and makes specific targeted recommendations for future action in research, health related practices, prevention education and outreach, and public policy. This project uses a methodology that has proven useful in developing statements of current health and safety status of a target audience to use in developing a future action plan based upon that status. The conference planning committee uses its collective knowledge as well as a literature search to develop a list of experts on various topics relating to the health and safety status of the older farmers in the production agriculture community. Each expert selected is invited to make a formal presentation that is supported by a written paper to the invited participants to the conference. Over the 2 1/2 days of the conference, the expert presentations are divided into groupings of presentations that participants, including practicing farmers, will then use as material for discussions that incorporates their professional background and work experiences to arrive at a consensus of the current health and safety status of the aging farm community. The group discussions use the Nominal Group process and facilitators to guide discussions and allow all participants an opportunity to contribute to the formulation of the consensus. This consensus status is used as a basis to develop an action plan that includes concrete steps that could be taken to fill gaps in and address the needs of the aging farm community related to health and safety. Following the conference presentations and group discussions, the Principal Investigator will compile a draft document for circulation to the conference planning committee for review and comment. The document arising from these edits will be circulated to all conference participants for a final review and comment before publication. The resulting document becomes the proceedings of the conference as well as a public statement on the outcomes of the conference. ? ? ?
