NRHA highlights rural aging priorities at Policy Institute
In Washington, D.C., policy conversations often move quickly, but in 2025, one message stood out clearly across Capitol Hill: rural America is aging and it needs intentional and coordinated action.
For the first time, the National Rural Health Association’s (NRHA) Government Affairs team developed a dedicated 2025 healthy rural aging one-pager for the association’s 2025 Rural Health Policy Institute in Washington, D.C. The 2025 aging one pager marked 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, safety and good health. The response was immediate and NRHA members and partners widely utilized the 2025 rural healthy aging one-pager during their congressional meetings.
Building on the strong engagement, NRHA refined the 2025 version and developed an updated 2026 healthy rural aging one pager to guide advocacy efforts at NRHA’s 2026 Rural Health Policy Institute. Both one-pagers served as the central aging advocacy tool during NRHA’s 2025 and 2026 Policy Institutes for members and partners who engaged with policymakers during their Capitol Hill visits.
Why Rural Aging Demands Attention
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.
A Framework for Healthy Rural Aging
NRHA’s 2025 and 2026 healthy rural aging one-pagers outline key rural age-friendly priorities to support rural older adults 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.
The one-pagers also affirm NRHA’s support for key federal legislation such as:
- Reauthorizing the Older Americans Act
- Supporting Our Direct Care Workforce and Family Caregivers Act
- Improving Seniors’ Timely Access to Care Act
- Increasing Nutrition Access for Seniors Act
- Medicare Dental Benefit Act
The one-pagers continues to inform and guide NRHA members and partners in their engagement with policymakers on age-friendly care, and this 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.