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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Aging and aging-related services

Modernizing Demand-Responsive Transportation for the Age of New Mobility
Provides an overview of demand-responsive transportation (DRT) and its role in supporting people with disabilities, older adults, people with lower incomes, and rural residents. Explores how a new data specification, the transactional data specification (TDS), can be used to modernize DRT services. Presents case studies of systems adopting TDS, including ITNAmerica, a national transportation network serving older adults in rural communities, and a pilot program in rural Oregon. Offers recommendations to policymakers and stakeholders to promote wide-scale adoption of TDS by DRT providers.
Author(s): Jana Lynott
Date: 12/2020
Sponsoring organization: AARP Public Policy Institute
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Federal Funding for Rural Health: Supporting Planning and Development Around a Regional Transportation Need
Features Rides to Health and Wealth, a regional transportation program in eastern Missouri helping improve rural healthcare access and other health-related transportation needs. Includes discussion of how the program planning and development continued during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Author(s): Kay Miller Temple
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 12/2020
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Meeting the Social Needs of Older Adults in Rural Areas
Discusses the risks of social isolation and loneliness among rural older adults. Details interventions to address this issue, as well as models that improve social connectedness for older adults.
Author(s): Carrie Henning-Smith
Citation: JAMA Health Forum
Date: 11/2020
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Differences in Characteristics of Adult Day Services Centers, by Level of Medical Service Provision
Presents results from the adult day services centers (ADSCs) component of the 2016 National Study of Long-Term Care Providers. Describes ADSCs by level of medical service provision, organizational characteristics, participant case-mix, and geographic characteristics. Figure 15 identifies the percentage of ADSCs according to metropolitan statistical area status and by level of medical services provided.
Author(s): Vincent Rome, Jessica Penn Lendon, Lauren Harris-Kojetin
Date: 10/2020
Sponsoring organization: National Center for Health Statistics
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Rural America's Senior Citizens: Considerations for Transportation, Healthcare Access, Connectedness, Nutrition and Economics
Policy paper providing an overview of rural older adults. Examines the challenges rural older adults face in accessing healthcare. Discusses how transportation, social isolation, nutrition, and economics impact the health outcomes of this population.
Author(s): Tasha Brown, Kay Miller Temple, Josie Rudolphi
Date: 10/2020
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Association
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Transit for Healthcare: Volunteer Drivers in Aging Rural Minnesota
Covers supply and demand for volunteer drivers and discusses how insufficient transportation services negatively affect healthcare access for elderly and disabled populations in rural Minnesota. Examines obstacles facing volunteer drivers, including mileage reimbursement, distance to client's home, vehicle insurance, and more.
Author(s): Whitney Oachs
Date: 09/2020
Sponsoring organization: Center for Rural Policy and Development
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Policy Goals to Improve Behavioral Health Needs of Individuals, Employers and Communities in Rural New Mexico
Report examining behavioral health workforce needs and the growing older adult population in rural New Mexico. Presents data analysis, survey results, and group discussion with stakeholders in Grant, Socorro, Sierra, Valencia, and Catron counties. Offers policy recommendations related to training and certification of behavioral healthcare workers.
Author(s): Susan Wilger, Anne Hayes Egan, Alexis Brandt, Micaela Imar de la Rosa
Date: 08/2020
Sponsoring organization: Center for Health Innovation
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Policy Goals to Support the Healthcare Workforce in Healthy Aging Communities
Report describing a research project funded by the New Mexico Department of Health that examines behavioral healthcare workforce needs and the growing elderly population in rural Grant, Sierra, Socorro, Catron, and Valencia counties. Presents key points from discussions with project participants, including professionals in health promotion, hospital, community health centers, local government, and educational institutions. Offers policy goals related to regional services, economic planning, and expansion of Medicaid and Medicare reimbursable services.
Author(s): Susan Wilger, Anne Hayes Egan, Alexis Brandt, Micaela Imar de la Rosa
Date: 08/2020
Sponsoring organization: Center for Health Innovation
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Blind Spot: Mobility and Aging in Rural America
Examines mobility challenges older adults face in rural America. Highlights programs that support the transit needs of older adults in rural Arizona. Outlines opportunities for philanthropies to engage with communities on mobility initiatives.
Date: 08/2020
Sponsoring organization: Age Friendly Arizona
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Living at Home in Rural America: Improving Accessibility for Older Adults and People with a Disability
Information on current federal resources, programs, and initiatives intended to improve home safety and accessibility for rural older adults and people with disabilities. Supports the Rural Health Strategy, launched by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in 2018 to improve health care in rural America by leveraging partnerships on the federal, regional, state, and local levels.
Date: 08/2020
Sponsoring organizations: Administration for Community Living, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
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