Health Extension: Community-Based Healthcare and the Future of Cooperative Extension explores innovation in extension health programs, engaged scholarship promoting research-based information in communities, and the evaluation and documentation of community programs and their impacts. This volume provides land-grant and university-based colleagues up-to-date information on using the Cooperative Extension System (CES) for community engagement in healthcare while also familiarizing those outside CES and the academy with a roadmap for improvement. The contributions of a diverse array of scholars challenge the status quo in extension programs by characterizing the introspection, understanding, creativity, partnerships, and leadership that will be required to improve lives and communities  in the twenty-first century. This perspective underscores the role of CES as foundational to the future of Health Extension and offers an alternative to approaches that utilize the CES as a model without the accompanying advantages of history, community embeddedness, and sustainability.

Cheryl L. Eschbach is director of Michigan State University Extension’s Health and Nutrition Institute, where she provides leadership for community-based health, food safety, and nutrition education.

Elizabeth H. Weybright is associate professor in the Department of Human Development, adolescent extension specialist in the Youth and Families Program Unit, and affiliate faculty in the Department of Community and Behavioral Health in the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine at Washington State University. 

Jeffrey W. Dwyer is professor emeritus of Michigan State University, and director emeritus of MSU Extension.

Contents
Preface
Cooperative Extension and Healthcare: Origins of Health Extension | Jeffrey W. Dwyer and Cheryl L. Eschbach
Health Equity in Extension: Accounting for Our History and Forging an Authentic Path Forward | Lauren E. Kennedy, Cheryl L. Eschbach, and Erin L. Martinez |
Engagement with Health Systems, Providers, and Payors | Allison Myers and Leslie Lytle
Dissemination and Implementation Science for Health Extension: Getting Back to Our Roots | Elizabeth H. Weybright, Laura E. Balis, Lauren E. Kennedy, Brittany Rhoades Cooper, Kathryn E. Bruzios, and Samantha M. Harden
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: Envisioning Pathways to Health Justice | Courtney Cuthbertson, Lauren E. Kennedy, Lindsey Lunsford, Danielle Y. Hairston Green, Ana Lucia Fonseca, Camaya Wallace Bechard, and Carmen V. Harris
The Transformation of Extension Family and Consumer Science Programs to Health Extension | Erin L. Martinez
Sowing Seeds: Health Extension’s Role in Supporting Agricultural Mental Health | Courtney Cuthbertson
An Overview of Disaster Education in Extension and Implications for Health Extension | Josh Gunn
Community-Based Approaches to Address Opioid Misuse | Elizabeth H. Weybright, Courtney Cuthbertson, Dusti Linnell, and Kylie Pybus
The Future of Health Extension | Cheryl L. Eschbach and Jeffrey W. Dwyer
About the Contributors