Science and Storytelling: Rural Aging

In the United States, 10 million older adults live in rural communities. Rural older adults often face unique health disparities related to limited finances, public transportation, and access to health and support services. However, describing challenges alone does not address health disparities. Improving the health of rural people requires community input and innovation to tackle the social determinants of health. In this episode, podcast co-hosts Dr. Juanita-Dawne Bacsu along with doctoral candidate Rita Xiaochen Hu and doctoral student Kaleigh Ligus sit down with Dr. Carrie Henning-Smith for a conversation about rural aging and some key challenges and actions for moving forward.  Guest:  Carrie Henning-Smith, PhD, MPH, MSW (Bio)—Associate Professor in the Division of Health Policy and Management at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. Hosts:  Juanita-Dawne Bacsu, PhD (Bio)—Postdoctoral Fellow, Rural Dementia Action Research Team, University of Saskatchewan, and Research Associate, Saskatchewan Population Health and Evaluation Research Unit, University of Regina, Canada; Rita Xiaochen Hu, MSW (Bio)—Doctoral Candidate in Social Work and Psychology, University of Michigan; Kaleigh Ligus, MA (Bio)—Doctoral Student, University of Connecticut. This podcast episode is supported by the GSA Innovation Fund: 75th Anniversary.