Rural/Urban Patterns of Aging and Caregiving in the United States

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to investigate the effects of different residential environments on informal and formal caregiving provided to older people. The author uses two kinds of evidence to address this central concern. First, recent demographic trends are examined to ascertain the availability of informal caregivers among older people living in different places of residence. This line of inquiry focuses on the supply of potential caregivers. Second, previous research on rural/urban patterns of informal and formal caregiving for older people is reviewed. In conjunction with these two lines of inquiry, the author discusses past, present, and future trends in aging and caregiving. Because little direct evidence exists with which to examine particular aspects of rural/urban patterns of caregiving, the author discusses needed areas of future research.

Community Service Use by Older Adults: The Roles of Sociocultural Factors in Rural-Urban Differences

“…Rural older adults did not differ in their perceived informal support from their urban counterparts. This finding is congruent with previous findings that suggest rural older adults may not be at an advantage for having greater access to an informal support network (Goins & Krout, 2006;Glasgow, 2000). Attitudes toward formal services did not differ between rural-urban groups.…”

Family Assistance and Autonomy in the Lives of Rural Elders

“…Rural elders confront unique challenges as grow older and require the assistance of others. Rural elders tend to have more children and are less likely to be childless when compared with their urban counterparts; however, those children are less likely to live in close proximity (Dwyer, Barton, & Vogel, 1994, Glasgow, 2000Wagner & Niles-Yokum, 2006). Also, geographical dispersion of the population means that rural elders have fewer neighbors and friends close by to access in times of need when compared with those living in more densely populated areas.…”

“…Because rural elders are more likely to be married than urban elders, the rate of caregiving by spouses may be higher in rural areas (Coward, Lee, & Dwyer, 1993;Wagner & Niles-Yokum, 2006). The stress of caregiving by spouses is a bigger challenge in rural areas as opposed to nonrural areas because children are typically more available to assist in nonrural areas (Glasgow, 2000).…”

“…Research looking at residential proximity of adult children to their aging parents suggests that urban elders are more likely than rural elders to live close to an adult child (Glasgow, 2000;Wagner & Niles-Yokum, 2006). Overall, one in four children (24.7%) is involved in care of an older parent, but in rural areas one in five children (20.2%) is reported to be a caregiver (Coward et al, 1993).…”

Assessing the Relationship Between Hazard Mitigation Plan Quality and Rural Status in a Cohort of 57 Counties from 3 States in the Southeastern U.S.

“…Relative to their urban counterparts, rural counties have higher poverty rates [2], an aging population base [3], higher rates of age-adjusted mortality, disability, and chronic disease [4], are more geographically and socially isolated [5], and typically have fewer resources available at their disposal [6]. As such, rural communities may be at a particular disadvantage when it comes to planning and preparing for disasters [5,[7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15].…”