The Building Age-Friendly Rural Systems webinar brought together leaders from the aging and rural health fields to explore approaches for supporting older adults and family caregivers.
As states invest in rural health and implement the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP), the discussion highlighted resources, community-informed insights, and policy strategies that can help leaders translate these investments into stronger systems of care.
Attendees learned from leading rural aging efforts and took away resources they could use in their own work, including:
- The National Rural Age-Friendly Initiative (National Rural Health Association and The John A. Hartford Foundation): practical tools for assessing and strengthening age-friendly practices in rural health systems, with examples that can help state and health system leaders incorporate these approaches into RHTP plans and other rural health initiatives.
- Rural Voices Shaping Transformation y Rooted in Care: Transforming the Future for Rural Family Caregivers (Lutheran Services in America): lived experience insights and policy recommendations that can help policymakers and providers better respond to the needs of rural older adults and family caregivers, including opportunities to strengthen Medicaid, home- and community-based services, benefits navigation, workforce development, and caregiver supports.
- The Rural Aging in California Policy Brief Series (Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at UC Davis and The SCAN Foundation): a community-informed framework that gives policy staff and advocates actionable recommendations for addressing gaps in long-term services and supports, health care access, and housing stability while building stronger cross-sector partnerships. The recommendations offer a starting point for adapting rural aging strategies to local and state priorities nationwide.
Why Now?
Rural communities are experiencing growing demand for services that support an aging population while many of the systems older adults and family caregivers rely on remain difficult to navigate and access. For people living far from health care and other essential services, getting the right support can depend on where they live and what resources are available locally. Now is a critical time to ensure that investments in rural communities translate into better experiences and outcomes for older adults and the people who care for them.
FAQ
Q: Who was this webinar for?
A: The webinar was intended for policymakers, aging and disability organizations, rural health care providers, state offices of rural health, state rural health associations, RHTP administrators and implementation partners, philanthropic organizations, researchers, and advocates committed to building stronger, more age-friendly rural communities.
Q: Where was the RSVP link?
A: Registration for the webinar was aquí.
Q: Who hosted the webinar?
A: The Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at UC Davis, Lutheran Services in America, National Rural Health Association, The John A. Hartford Foundation, The SCAN Foundation.