Skip to main content
GSA 2024 Main banner
Icon Legend
This session is not in your schedule.
This session is in your schedule. Click again to remove it.
Back
Symposium

Social Research, Policy, and Practice

Rurality Matters: Understanding the Critical and Nuanced Role of Place-Based Factors in Rural Aging

Saturday, November 16, 2024
8:00 AM – 9:30 AM PST
Location: Room 604
CE: 1.5

Although only 15% of all Americans live in rural communities, 22% of U.S. older adults live in rural areas. Despite the prevalence of rural older adults, there are significant gaps in the gerontological literature regarding this vulnerable sub-population and furthermore, the multidimensional factors that characterize rurality and influence their healthy aging. To highlight the impact of place-based factors on the breadth of needs and outcomes found in rural aging populations, this symposium will host five research projects spanning the social and health sciences. The first study applies multi-level models to estimate the spatial distribution of aging and disability service organizations by sociodemographic and sociocultural characteristics in U.S. rural counties. The second uses multiple methods to contrast challenges facing older adults aging in place in rural areas with assets and opportunities for supporting healthy aging in rural older adults. The third examines rural-urban differences in health outcomes and the lived experiences of informal caregivers to suggest culturally appropriate intervention strategies, tailored to the needs of rural caregivers. The fourth analysis compares differences in rural health disparities among diverse aging populations living in rural Wyoming and Mississippi. The fifth investigates benefits of examining claims versus survey data when comparing rural and urban areas to better understand access to healthcare services. Our discussant will lead conversation to emphasize the important nuances of healthy aging in rural communities and to increase awareness on research and policy strategies that may support the needs of older adults and caregivers living in rural communities.

Learning Objectives:

  • After attending this session, participants will be able to define older adults living in rural communities as a health disparity population, as well as identify important community-level factors associated with the health and well-being outcomes of rural older adults, as well as their ability to age in place.
  • After attending this session, participants will be able to apply new knowledge of multi-dimensional factors associated with the health and well-being of rural older adults to their future research including, secondary data analyses and intervention work.
  • After attending this session, participants will be able to understand how the intersection of place-based factors and sociodemographic factors such as, race are associated with observed differences in health and well-being outcomes across older adults living in rural communities.

Presentations:

  • 8:00 AM – 9:30 AM PST
    Socio-Spatial Determinants of Community-Based Long-Term Care Availability in Rural Counties

    Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Claire Pendergrast, MPH MA (she/her/hers) – Syracuse University

  • 8:00 AM – 9:30 AM PST
    Supporting Rural Older Adults Aging in Place: Implications for Research

    Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Carrie Henning-Smith, PhD, MPH, MSW (she/her/hers) – University of Minnesota

  • 8:00 AM – 9:30 AM PST
    Rural Urban Differences in Informal Caregiving

    Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Elizabeth Crouch, PhD, M.S., B.S. – University of South Carolina

  • 8:00 AM – 9:30 AM PST
    Addressing Disparities in ADRD Prevalence and Mortality Rates Between Rural and Urban Communities

    Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Nasim Ferdows, PhD – Northeastern University

  • 8:00 AM – 9:30 AM PST
    Rurality and Race in Wyoming and Mississippi: The Intersection of Place and Race-Based Disparities

    Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Taylor Jansen, PhD (she/her/hers) – University of Massachusetts Boston