Building Age-friendly Communities in a rural context
Older people living in rural and coastal areas can face challenges in staying connected, accessing health and care services, and accessing the right housing, writes our Learning Officer for the UK Network of Age-friendly Communities, Pippa Mannerings.
At our recent Age-friendly Futures Summit in Manchester we brought together three international age-friendly leaders from the Nordic region, Ireland and Wales to discuss how some of these barriers have sparked resilience and innovation in their rural communities.
As the State of Ageing 2025 reports, rural areas across England tend to have larger numbers and concentrations of older people, on average, and are the fastest ageing parts of the country.
Rural areas can be great places to grow older. Older people form the backbone of many communities and report greater health and wellbeing on average than urban areas, as well as access to the great outdoors.
Rural communities are diverse in both landscape and population and will all have their own specific challenges when it comes to connecting their residents to services, information and social opportunities. Whilst this is the case across rural areas across the UK, the international panel of experts we brought together at our Age-friendly Futures Summit highlighted some of the overarching similarities of rural communities and shared some approaches and initiatives to meet these challenges.
Nordic Region
People in rural areas are often less able to access services and community assets, including vital health and information services, as our Ageing in a Rural Place report shows. This can often act as a barrier for residents when accessing key services in their community.
The Nordic Region covers a vast and diverse geographical and cultural landscape in Northern Europe. Louise Thomasen, Senior Advisor at the Nordic Welfare Centre shared examples where rural communities across region are meeting this challenge.
Across the Nordic Region, age-friendly communities are using a collaborative approach when thinking about how community spaces are used and shared to ensure that people can build and maintain social connections.
For instance, in the municipality of Vinje, Norway, a pilot was initiated in which they both a senior centre and a youth club operate from the same building. Currently, both groups operate separately using the same facilities, with plans for integrated activities and courses in the pipeline.
The practical need of sharing fewer premises in this case has led to an innovative approach to sharing resources. Not only is the centre accessible for both groups, but because the premises are rented by the municipality, it has also had cost saving implications.
Despite rural and coastal areas being sparsely populated, communities feel connected and supported. Community assets such as faith spaces, village halls, libraries and housing associations play a big role in keeping communities connected.
Ireland
Homes in rural and coastal areas are often older and less suited to adaptation. Karen Fennessy, Healthy Age Friendly Homes Regional Manager for Ireland, spoke about the Age-friendly Homes Project in Ireland which brings together housing and health through a holistic and person-centred approach.
The Age-friendly Homes Project aims to enable older people to continue living in their own homes for as long as possible, whilst living with a sense of autonomy and connection to their communities. Older residents receive a home visit and needs assessment that covers six domains, from finances to energy efficiency and what’s available in their community to link into.
Impacts of this approach on residents have included falls prevention, increased feelings of self-worth and increased independence. It has also had wider impacts through being a cost-effective and efficient service, improving housing stock, and increasing early discharge from acute hospitals.
Wales
Although there may be some challenging features of rural age-friendly communities, they also have many strengths that age-friendly leaders should see as opportunities for their work.
Despite rural and coastal areas being sparsely populated, communities feel connected and supported. Community assets such as faith spaces, village halls, libraries and housing associations play a big role in keeping communities connected.
Welsh Ageing Well Lead, Dave McKinney, shared how they have developed more opportunities for co-production with residents by utilising trusted spaces.
Multiple communities across Wales including Anglesey and Ceredigion have developed a programme of ‘touring forums’ in which residents can be involved in the dialogue which shapes the activity and direction for age-friendly communities in Wales. Touring forums visit trusted community assets such as lounges in a partner housing association’s premises which are widespread across the county.
This programme, as well as coming up with great ideas, has supported the development of a strong age-friendly network in which residents have a sense of ownership of the age-friendly work across communities in Wales. Hence, the use of trusted community assets in ways like this doesn’t just help to reduce the physical barriers that exist within a rural setting but also utilises the strong social connections that exist within it.
With higher numbers and concentrations of older people living in rural areas, it is increasingly important to ensure that communities are equipped to support residents to age well. Learning from these global examples shows us that embracing age-friendly principles can spark innovative solutions to problems faced by many ageing rural communities.
