Providing Community-Based Services to the Rural Elderly

This book brings together information from both researchers and practitioners on a wide range of community-based services that are available to and needed by the rural elderly in the United States.

Specific topics examined include: senior centres; referral systems; housing and transportation; employment and retirement; and health promotion and health care. Krout provides section overviews as well as an informative, thorough introduction and epilogue that highlight common themes and issues.

Drawing on the expertise of researchers and practitioners, this volume presents detailed information on a wide range of community-based services that are needed by and available to elders living in rural areas. The contributors explore how these services can be developed given the realities of rural settings, resources, and populations. They identify the barriers to development and operation, and offer possible solutions. Specific topics include senior centers, referral systems, housing and transportation, employment and retirement, health promotion, and health care. This volume features section overviews as well as an informative, thorough introduction and epilogue that highlight common themes and issues. Most chapters are co-authored by a researcher and a practitioner. Researchers, planners, practitioners, and policy makers interested in gerontology, social work, health services, and nursing will appreciate the research-based information Providing Community-Based Services to the Rural Elderly contains. "Dr. Krout has undertaken a formidable task to cover vast areas relating to services to the rural elderly. It is a subject not adequately covered by current literature and could be used for teaching future and current practitioners and policy planners. . . . Overall the [book] meets an important need. . . . Many of the chapters tie applied research to pragmatic community issues and identify needed policy development. This is a valuable asset for the student, practitioner, and policy planner." --Florence Gray Soltys, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill "John A. Krout describes eleven key services from a rural perspective through the experience of the researcher and the practitioner. By bringing together some twenty-four authors from both sectors, Krout has provided a form for two different but related approaches to understanding rural service delivery. . . . Krout has identified a unique focus with this book by concentrating on community based services for the rural elderly. Because there is such a great need for more information on rural service deliver, Providing Community-Based Services to the Rural Elderly is a welcome addition to the literature." --Journal of Women and Aging