NRHA highlights rural aging priorities at Policy Institute
For the first time, the National Rural Health Association’s (NRHA) Government Affairs team developed a dedicated healthy rural aging one-pager for the association’s Rural Health Policy Institute in Washington, D.C. This marks a significant milestone in NRHA’s commitment to ensuring older adults in rural communities have the support and resources needed to age in place with dignity and health.
Rural communities are aging more rapidly than urban areas, with 17.5 percent of rural populations aged 65 and older, compared to 13.8 percent in urban regions. Research consistently shows that rural older adults experience higher rates of morbidity including obesity, diabetes, coronary heart disease, and falls, as well as higher mortality from falls, cancer, and COVID-19. These challenges are compounded by limited access to health care services, workforce shortages, transportation barriers, food insecurity, and social isolation.
NRHA’s healthy rural aging one-pager outlines key rural age-friendly priorities including:
- Advancing the “choosing rural” concept to help older adults remain in their rural communities.
- Promoting system-level, multi-sector frameworks and resources to support healthy rural aging.
- Addressing state and federal regulatory barriers that limit rural aging in place.
- Strengthening the rural care workforce, including the use of community health workers to support rural aging in place.
It also affirms NRHA’s support for key legislation such as:
- Reauthorizing the Older Americans Act
- Supporting Our Direct Care Workforce and Family Caregivers Act
- Improving Seniors’ Timely Access to Care Act
- Senior Hunger Prevention Act
- Medicare Dental Benefit Act
This one-pager served as the central aging advocacy tool during NRHA’s 2025 and 2026 Policy Institute Conference for members and partners who engaged with policymakers during the Hill visits. The one-pager continues to inform and guide NRHA members and partners in their engagement with policymakers on age-friendly care, as it reinforces NRHA’s dedication to advancing comprehensive age-friendly policy solutions across rural America.
To learn more or get involved in NRHA’s rural aging work developed in partnership with The John A. Hartford Foundation, visit NRHA’s National Rural Age-Friendly Initiative Resource Hub or contact Laura Hudson and Rebecca Yeboah.