Community Supports for Rural Aging in Place and Independent Living – Resources
Selected recent or important resources focusing on Community Supports for Rural Aging in Place and Independent Living.
Disability and Independence in Rural America: White Paper
Provides an overview of disability and independence in rural America. Describes disability prevalence in rural areas and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) programs for people with disabilities. Outlines key considerations for rural disability services, including access, Medicaid and Medicare coverage, workforce, and telehealth and technology. Highlights themes that emerged during the September 2023 National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Service (NACRHHS) meeting regarding areas for disability and independence policy improvement. Appendix A summarizes NACRHHS subcommittee site visits of two organizations serving rural Colorado residents.
Date: 07/2024
Sponsoring organization: National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services
view details
Provides an overview of disability and independence in rural America. Describes disability prevalence in rural areas and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) programs for people with disabilities. Outlines key considerations for rural disability services, including access, Medicaid and Medicare coverage, workforce, and telehealth and technology. Highlights themes that emerged during the September 2023 National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Service (NACRHHS) meeting regarding areas for disability and independence policy improvement. Appendix A summarizes NACRHHS subcommittee site visits of two organizations serving rural Colorado residents.
Date: 07/2024
Sponsoring organization: National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services
view details
New Frontiers for Funding: An Introduction to Grantmaking in Rural Aging
Offers guidance on offering grant funds for rural aging work, discussing scale of funding, rural assets, sustainability, and partnership building. Highlights rural aging issues including health, rural culture, transportation, broadband, housing and institutional care, and social isolation.
Date: 06/2024
Sponsoring organization: Grantmakers In Aging
view details
Offers guidance on offering grant funds for rural aging work, discussing scale of funding, rural assets, sustainability, and partnership building. Highlights rural aging issues including health, rural culture, transportation, broadband, housing and institutional care, and social isolation.
Date: 06/2024
Sponsoring organization: Grantmakers In Aging
view details
Access in Brief: Adults with Intellectual Disabilities and Developmental Disabilities
Issue brief examining access to Medicaid coverage for adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities (ID/DD), using data for fiscal years 2017-2018. Compares characteristics of adult Medicaid beneficiaries with ID/DD across racial and ethnic groups and by Medicaid-only or dually eligible status. Includes a section on home and community-based services and features demographics including breakdowns by rural or urban residence.
Date: 02/2024
Sponsoring organization: Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission
view details
Issue brief examining access to Medicaid coverage for adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities (ID/DD), using data for fiscal years 2017-2018. Compares characteristics of adult Medicaid beneficiaries with ID/DD across racial and ethnic groups and by Medicaid-only or dually eligible status. Includes a section on home and community-based services and features demographics including breakdowns by rural or urban residence.
Date: 02/2024
Sponsoring organization: Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission
view details
Understanding COPD and Pulmonary Rehabilitation
Provides an overview of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) symptoms and causes, and explains how rural-based pulmonary rehabilitation services help to restore independence and quality of life in COPD patients. Highlights the prevalence of COPD in rural communities and the steps that Critical Access Hospitals and other small rural hospitals can take to improve access to much-needed pulmonary rehabilitation services. Includes transcript.
Date: 02/2024
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Resource Center
view details
Provides an overview of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) symptoms and causes, and explains how rural-based pulmonary rehabilitation services help to restore independence and quality of life in COPD patients. Highlights the prevalence of COPD in rural communities and the steps that Critical Access Hospitals and other small rural hospitals can take to improve access to much-needed pulmonary rehabilitation services. Includes transcript.
Date: 02/2024
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Resource Center
view details
Bridging The Home-Based Primary Care Gap In Rural Areas
Discusses challenges with offering home-based primary care (HBPC) in rural communities for older adults and people with disabilities, notably workforce shortages, insufficient infrastructure, and funding. Offers HBPC redesign suggestions with these challenges in mind, discussing community health workers, technology and telehealth, leveraging community resources and partnerships, training, scope of practice laws, payment models, and infrastructure investments.
Author(s): Ginny Rogers, Montgomery Smith, Jonathan Gonzalez-Smith, Robert S. Saunders
Citation: Health Affairs Forefront
Date: 02/2024
view details
Discusses challenges with offering home-based primary care (HBPC) in rural communities for older adults and people with disabilities, notably workforce shortages, insufficient infrastructure, and funding. Offers HBPC redesign suggestions with these challenges in mind, discussing community health workers, technology and telehealth, leveraging community resources and partnerships, training, scope of practice laws, payment models, and infrastructure investments.
Author(s): Ginny Rogers, Montgomery Smith, Jonathan Gonzalez-Smith, Robert S. Saunders
Citation: Health Affairs Forefront
Date: 02/2024
view details
Impact of Driving Cessation on Health-Related Quality of Life Trajectories
Examines the impact of driving cessation (DC) in older drivers aged 65-79 on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in rural and urban populations. Includes charts showing differences in HRQoL related to DC in metro core, metro non-core, and small town/rural areas. Discusses the impact of access to alternative transportation on mental health and HRQoL in older adults.
Author(s): Thelma J. Mielenz, Haomiao Jia, Carolyn DiGuiseppi, et al.
Citation: Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, 22, 13
Date: 02/2024
view details
Examines the impact of driving cessation (DC) in older drivers aged 65-79 on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in rural and urban populations. Includes charts showing differences in HRQoL related to DC in metro core, metro non-core, and small town/rural areas. Discusses the impact of access to alternative transportation on mental health and HRQoL in older adults.
Author(s): Thelma J. Mielenz, Haomiao Jia, Carolyn DiGuiseppi, et al.
Citation: Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, 22, 13
Date: 02/2024
view details
Alzheimer Disease or Other Dementias in Adult Day Services Centers, 2020
Examines the prevalence of Alzheimer disease and other dementias among adult day services center (ADSC) participants using data from the ADSC component of the 2020 National Post-acute and Long-term Care Study (NPALS). Compares the prevalence of these conditions in ADSCs that provide specialized care for dementia with other ADSCs by census region, metropolitan statistical area status, chain affiliation, and ownership type.
Author(s): Priyanka Singh, Jessica P. Lendon, Manisha Sengupta
Date: 01/2024
Sponsoring organization: National Center for Health Statistics
view details
Examines the prevalence of Alzheimer disease and other dementias among adult day services center (ADSC) participants using data from the ADSC component of the 2020 National Post-acute and Long-term Care Study (NPALS). Compares the prevalence of these conditions in ADSCs that provide specialized care for dementia with other ADSCs by census region, metropolitan statistical area status, chain affiliation, and ownership type.
Author(s): Priyanka Singh, Jessica P. Lendon, Manisha Sengupta
Date: 01/2024
Sponsoring organization: National Center for Health Statistics
view details
Supporting People with Disabilities in Rural Communities, with Rayna Sage and Catherine Ipsen
An episode of the Exploring Rural Health podcast featuring Rayna Sage, PhD, and Catherine Ipsen, PhD, co-directors of the Research and Training Center on Disability in Rural Communities at the University of Montana. Focuses on the challenges facing rural people with disabilities and services and support systems that enable them to achieve and maintain quality of life.
Date: 01/2024
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
view details
An episode of the Exploring Rural Health podcast featuring Rayna Sage, PhD, and Catherine Ipsen, PhD, co-directors of the Research and Training Center on Disability in Rural Communities at the University of Montana. Focuses on the challenges facing rural people with disabilities and services and support systems that enable them to achieve and maintain quality of life.
Date: 01/2024
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
view details
Compendium of Best Practices for Rural Age-Friendly Care
Offers best practices, models of care, policies, and more related to offering age-friendly care in rural settings. Covers care coordination, caregiving support, behavioral health, community programming, community health workers, the 4Ms, and state-level priorities.
Date: 2024
Sponsoring organizations: National Rural Health Association, The John A. Hartford Foundation
view details
Offers best practices, models of care, policies, and more related to offering age-friendly care in rural settings. Covers care coordination, caregiving support, behavioral health, community programming, community health workers, the 4Ms, and state-level priorities.
Date: 2024
Sponsoring organizations: National Rural Health Association, The John A. Hartford Foundation
view details
2024 Chartbook: Supporting Native Elders in Their Communities: Title VI Native American Aging Programs and Services
Offers findings from the 2023 Title VI Native American Aging Program Survey. Discusses service provision, nutrition and traditional foods, services and supports for caregivers, transportation, elder abuse, program staffing and funding, and partnerships.
Date: 2024
Sponsoring organization: USAging
view details
Offers findings from the 2023 Title VI Native American Aging Program Survey. Discusses service provision, nutrition and traditional foods, services and supports for caregivers, transportation, elder abuse, program staffing and funding, and partnerships.
Date: 2024
Sponsoring organization: USAging
view details
Additional resources are available related to this guide. See the full list of resources by topic for:
- Aging and aging-related services
- Elderly population
- Home and community-based services
- Informal caregivers
- People with disabilities
Last Updated: 10/24/2025