Community Supports for Rural Aging in Place and Independent Living – Resources

Informal Caregiving and Technology in Rural America
Highlights the challenges caregivers face in rural communities. Discusses how technology can offer potential solutions and identifies barriers to those solutions, such as broadband connectivity. Features Avera Health's eCare Senior Care, which provides a range of technology-assisted care services for assisted living and senior housing programs, as well as long-term care facilities.
Author(s): Tami Lichtenberg
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 01/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Social Isolation and Loneliness in Older Adults: Opportunities for the Health Care System
Examines how social isolation and loneliness affect health and quality of life in adults aged 50 and older, with a focus on vulnerable populations, including those living in rural areas. Makes recommendations for clinical settings on screening for negative health impacts related to social isolation and developing interventions to help address this issue.
Additional links: Read Online
Author(s): Committee on the Health and Medical Dimensions of Social Isolation and Loneliness in Older Adults
Date: 2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Health and Medicine Division (HMD), National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
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Supportive Services and Caregiving for Older Rural Adults from the National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services
Webinar recording discusses the support and caregiving services older adults in rural areas. Highlights policy recommendations from the National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services.
Additional links: Audio Recording, PowerPoint Handout, Webinar Transcript
Date: 12/2019
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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The Impact of the Opioid Epidemic on the Aging Services Network and the Older Adults They Serve
Report highlights the results of a survey of National Council on Aging (NCOA) grantees and partners on the effect of the opioid epidemic on older adults. Details the percentage of respondents from rural areas and offers recommendations and resources to address the epidemic among the aging population.
Date: 12/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Council on Aging
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Partnership Integration for Rural Health Resource Access
Describes an interdisciplinary partnership model combining nursing, public health, and gerontology to address the health and social challenges affecting older adults living in rural areas. Offers steps for developing an interdisciplinary partnership and highlights a model utilizing clinical and non-clinical disciplines to improve rural health resource access.
Author(s): Teresa Sharp, Joyce Weil, Audrey Snyder, et al.
Citation: Rural and Remote Health, 19(4), 5335
Date: 11/2019
Type: Document
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Nutrition Assistance Programs: Agencies Could Do More to Help Address the Nutritional Needs of Older Adults
Report focuses on the shortcomings of the federal nutrition guidelines in meeting the nutritional needs of older adults. Bases recommendations on interviews with older adults in both rural and urban areas.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 11/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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Enhancing Services for Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and Deafblind Patients in Rural America
Discusses the barriers to care that rural patients who are deaf, hard of hearing, or deafblind face, including lack of accommodations and inadequate clinician training. Features a Michigan clinic with American Sign Language-fluent staff, a New Jersey state division providing deaf sensitivity training, and a Colorado program that brings interpreters to rural communities.
Author(s): Allee Mead
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 10/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Study of Food Safety Needs of Adult Day Care Centers in the Child and Adult Care Food Program
Identifies the food safety education needs of adult day care centers. Examines food safety knowledge gaps, preferences for receiving food safety education, and methods for communicating about food safety education resources. Includes information on rural, town, and urban adult day care centers.
Date: 09/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: USDA Food and Nutrition Service
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The Older Population in Rural America: 2012-2016
Describes the rural older population, those 65 years and older, compared to urban older adults. Includes rural-urban data on population size for the nation, by region, and by state. Also covers demographic, social, and economic characteristics, age distribution, and sex ratio by age. Some data is available by level of rurality for mostly urban, mostly rural, and completely rural counties.
Author(s): Amy Symens Smith, Edward Trevelyan
Date: 09/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Census Bureau
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Toolkit: State Strategies to Support Older Adults Aging in Place in Rural Areas
Describes state initiatives helping older rural adults age in place by supporting services allowing them to remain in their homes. Strategies are focused around building the workforce, increasing access to services in rural areas, and addressing social determinants of health. Includes examples of programs that have already been implemented as well as emerging ideas from several states across the country.
Author(s): Neva Kaye, Kristina Long
Date: 09/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: Health Resources and Services Administration, National Academy for State Health Policy, National Organizations of State and Local Officials
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