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

Supporting Health Care Teams for Today and Pathways for Tomorrow: Twenty-Second Annual Report to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Congress
Offers policy recommendations regarding activities related to healthcare workforce education and training. Recommendations cover three programmatic areas - behavioral health workforce, geriatrics, and Area Health Education Centers (AHECs) - and are related to engaging potential trainees across the life course, recognizing and training caregivers as workforce participants, revising financial support to critical programs for recruitment and retention, and updating policy terms to better address challenges.
Date: 12/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Advisory Committee on Interdisciplinary Community-Based Linkages
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South Carolina State Health Assessment, 2023
Reports on the health status of South Carolina residents and identifies trends and priorities. Covers topics associated with each stage of life, including maternal and infant health, childhood and adolescence, adulthood, and healthy aging. Additional highlighted areas include population characteristics, health equity, health conditions, access, workforce, public health capacity, community and environmental influences on health, and more. Discusses rural issues throughout, and provides maps showing county-level data for selected topics. Includes a condensed State Health Assessment Companion Report.
Additional links: Companion Report
Date: 12/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: Alliance for a Healthy South Carolina (AHSC), Live Healthy South Carolina (LHSC), South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control
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Medicare Cognitive Assessments: Utilization Tripled between 2018 and 2022, but Challenges Remain
Describes the utilization of traditional Medicare's cognitive assessment service from 2018 through 2022. Presents stakeholder views on challenges providers and beneficiaries face in providing and accessing the service, respectively. Discusses steps the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has taken to increase awareness of the service. Includes information on the number of cognitive assessment services by urban and rural beneficiaries by race and ethnicity.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 12/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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National Plan to Address Alzheimer's Disease: 2023 Update
Action plan outlining 6 goals for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to address the challenges facing people with Alzheimer's disease and Alzheimer's disease-related dementias (AD/ADRD) and their families and to minimize the burden of AD/ADRD. Includes action items related to AD/ADRD treatment and care quality, public awareness and engagement, data tracking, and collaboration to support underserved populations, including rural and tribal communities.
Date: 12/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
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A Food Access Model in Michigan's Graying America
Presents a model for increasing food access for the aging and indigenous populations in a rural county in Michigan. Discusses the barriers to food access in the county, highlights specific concerns for each population, and details approaches to overcome those barriers.
Author(s): Wajeeha Kamal, Lily Guiney, Miles Oates
Date: 12/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: American Communities Project
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Racial and Ethnic Variances in Preparedness for Aging in Place among US Adults Ages 50-80
Surveys 2,277 adults between 50 and 80 to explore preparations being made for aging in place and identify disparities among various demographic and geographic variables. Discusses the intersection of rurality with race and social engagement access.
Author(s): Sheria G. Robinson-Lane, Florence U. Johnson, Marie Jeanne Tuyisenge, et al.
Citation: Geriatric Nursing, 54, 357-364
Date: 11/2023
Type: Document
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Housing America's Older Adults 2023
Provides an overview of demographics and housing needs of older adults in the U.S. Discusses affordable and accessible housing that allows for the appropriate level of care. Includes rural versus urban data comparisons of the aging population and housing issues specific to rural areas.
Date: 11/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University
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Management of Fall Risk Among Older Adults in Diverse Primary Care Settings
Discusses fall prevention resources integrated into sustainable computerized clinical decision support (CCDS) technology to support urban and rural primary care staff working with older adults. Provides feedback from 24 staff regarding fall risk factors, prevention strategies, patient-provider communication, available resources and training, and more.
Author(s): Kristen Shear, Hannah Rice, Pamela M. Garabedian, et al.
Citation: Journal of Applied Gerontology, 42(11), 2219-2232
Date: 11/2023
Type: Document
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Definitions of Successful Aging among Middle-Aged Latinas Residing in a Rural Agricultural Community
Identifies themes from focus group discussions on successful aging. Participants were 40 Latina women between the ages of 40-64 from a rural farmworker community in California. Covers health, active lifestyles, personal and family well-being, self-sufficiency, and more. Discusses factors affecting Latino people living in rural, agricultural areas.
Author(s): Elizabeth Ambriz, Camila De Pierola, Norma M. Calderon, et al.
Citation: PLoS One, 18(11), e0294887
Date: 11/2023
Type: Document
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Helping Older Adults Age Well in Rural America
Provides an overview of strategies that mitigate challenges related to aging in rural communities. Provides data on healthcare access in rural areas and presents successful models that focus on transportation, social services, and alternative care models, such as paramedicine and hybrid care.
Author(s): Martha Hostetter, Sarah Klein
Date: 11/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Commonwealth Fund
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