Age-friendly policies and programs have typically occurred at the local level but are becoming increasingly common at the state level. This is of particular importance for rural communities as the share of older adults is increasing in rural areas faster than in urban areas, yet funding of and access to aging supports in rural areas may be more limited or disjointed. This policy brief from the University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center identifies these state-level initiatives and the extent to which such programs have an explicit rural focus.
For more information, see Statewide Age-Friendly Initiatives: An Environmental Scan.