Rural Communities Face Critical Issues in Caring for Seniors

Senior caregiving is straining the resources of rural communities, reports the Dodge City Daily Globe . According to National Rural Health Association spokesperson Brock Slabach, "every day, more than 10,000 Americans turn 65 years old, and one in four of those American seniors live in small towns or rural areas." Rachel Monger with LeadingAge Kansas emphasizes the seriousness of the problem. "Frankly, unless we do something drastic very soon ... it will be because it's our rural parts of the state that are aging the most and the most rapidly," she warns. "The staffing issues that we're seeing, the closures that we're seeing of nursing communities, all of those issues are accelerating and will continue to." Monger notes certain rural communities are not sufficiently bolstered to address seniors' needs, and one way to close this service gap is by diversifying and providing many services through one organization. Slabach sees hope in the form of incentivizing more senior services through Medicare.