Bridging The Home-Based Primary Care Gap In Rural Areas

With 7.5 million older adults in the US either completely or partially homebound, there is significant demand for receiving care in the home. Since 2011, the proportion of homebound adults ages 70 and older has more than doubled and demand for home-based care will continue to grow with an increasingly aging population. The gap between demand and supply for home-based services is exacerbated in rural areas. Although approximately one in five individuals live in rural counties, rural adults are 78 percent less likely than those in the largest metropolitan counties to receive home-based medical care. Rural adults on average are also older, have higher rates of chronic disease and disability, and have greater unmet mobility needs compared to urban residents yet lack reliable transportation, which impedes care access and can result in being functionally homebound. Ongoing hospital and nursing home closures further reduce access to health services and increase the likelihood of treatment delays.

Offering care in the home setting can help alleviate these challenges, advance equitable access to health care, and support Age-Friendly Health Systems.

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