Rural Project Examples: Aging and aging-related services
Evidence-Based Examples
StrongPeople™ Program
Updated/reviewed July 2022
Updated/reviewed July 2022
- Need: Few older adults, particularly women and those in rural areas, participate in healthy living interventions.
- Intervention: Health educators lead community-based healthy living classes, which include strength training, aerobic exercise, dietary skill building, and/or civic engagement, depending on the program.
- Results: StrongPeople™ programs have been shown to improve weight, diet, physical activity, strength, cardiovascular health profile, physical function, pain, depression, and/or self-confidence in midlife and older adults.
Fit & Strong!®
Updated/reviewed August 2020
Updated/reviewed August 2020
- Need: Osteoarthritis is a chronic condition which often causes multiple related disabilities in older adults.
- Intervention: An 8-week physical activity, behavior change, and falls prevention program geared to older adults with osteoarthritis.
- Results: Participants gained confidence with increased exercise, lessened stiffness, improved joint pain and improved lower extremity strength and mobility.
Effective Examples
LIFE - Living well through Intergenerational Fitness and Exercise
Updated/reviewed November 2022
Updated/reviewed November 2022
- Need: Older adults in rural Iowa have inadequate access to physical activity specialists and/or exercise facilities, which limits their ability to remain sufficiently active.
- Intervention: Iowa State University implemented an intergenerational "exergaming" program to encourage fun and safe physical fitness among rural older adults.
- Results: Pilot studies showed that older adults demonstrated increases in strength, flexibility, activity levels, and confidence in their ability to be physically active. Younger adults experienced reduced ageism and increased knowledge and expectations of aging.
Care for Our Elders/Wakanki Ewastepikte
Updated/reviewed June 2022
Updated/reviewed June 2022
- Need: To provide Lakota elders with tools and opportunities for advance care planning.
- Intervention: An outreach program in South Dakota helps Lakota elders with advance care planning and wills by providing bilingual brochures and advance directive coaches.
- Results: Care for Our Elders saw an increase in the number of Lakota elders understanding the differences between a will and a living will and the need to have end-of-life discussions with family and healthcare providers.

Updated/reviewed May 2020
- Need: Meeting the health needs of geriatric patients in rural Livingston County, New York.
- Intervention: The Help for Seniors program was developed and using its 'vodcasts,' local EMTs were trained in geriatric screening methods and health needs treatment.
- Results: In addition to developing a successful model for educating EMS personnel, the program screened over 1200 individuals and identified various risks among the geriatric population.
Promising Examples
SASH® (Support and Services at Home)
Updated/reviewed March 2023
Updated/reviewed March 2023
- Need: In Vermont, the growing population of older adults, coupled with a lack of a decentralized, home-based system of care management, poses significant challenges for those who want to remain living independently at home.
- Intervention: SASH® (Support and Services at Home), based in affordable housing and their surrounding communities throughout the state, works with community partners to help older adults and people with disabilities receive the care they need so they can continue living safely at home.
- Results: Compared to their non-SASH peers, SASH participants have been documented to have better health outcomes, including fewer falls, lower rates of hospitalizations, fewer emergency room visits, and lower Medicare and Medicaid expenditures.

Updated/reviewed March 2021
- Need: To reduce falls and improve chronic care management for adults 50 or older in rural Cross County, Arkansas.
- Intervention: The ARcare Aging Well Outreach Network, run by an FQHC, provided services like falls prevention assessments, transportation to appointments, medication management, and senior-specific exercise opportunities.
- Results: From May 2015 to April 2018, the network served 639 patients through 1,580 medical encounters.
Other Project Examples
Right Side Up Falls Prevention
Updated/reviewed March 2023
Updated/reviewed March 2023
- Need: Falling is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in adults over the age of 65.
- Intervention: The Right Side Up program was implemented in rural Otter Tail County to address the prevention and management of falls and risk for falls through in-home assessments given by interdisciplinary healthcare professionals and students.
- Results: Short-term outcomes revealed 100% of participants found the visit and recommendations for falls prevention to be helpful, and 78% implemented these recommendations.
Rural Aging Action Network
Added February 2023
Added February 2023
- Need: To connect underserved and isolated older adults in rural Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota to services and supports so they can age in place.
- Intervention: The Rural Aging Action Network is a collaborative of organizations that offer different services like caregiver support, behavioral health, financial counseling, and assistance with chores and household maintenance.
- Results: Since 2015, the collaborative has reached over 4,000 older adults and caregivers in over 100 rural communities.
Geezers, Gulpers, and Gardeners
Updated/reviewed September 2022
Updated/reviewed September 2022
- Need: Suicide rates among white males age 65 and older have been rising in North Carolina. Challenges include losing friends, illnesses, and the loss of independence – all of which can lead to isolation and depression.
- Intervention: The Chatham County Council on Aging of North Carolina started Geezers, Gulpers, and Gardeners (3G Group) to connect retired men in need of male friends and mutual support.
- Results: Men in similar stages of life and varying backgrounds are forming friendships, engaging in activities, and taking care of their mental health.
For examples from other sources, see: