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Objective: This study investigates how rural community-dwelling older adults' views on what is important in maintaining health and wellbeing align with the eight age-friendly domains proposed by the World Health Organisation, and which domains are most salient., Design: Data were gathered through open-ended response postcards distributed using a whole-of-community approach., Setting: The Rural City of Wangaratta, a rural local government area located in north-east Victoria., Participants: 262 postcards were returned by rural older adults, carers and family members., Main Outcome Measure: Thematic analysis of open-ended responses to the following question: what is important to you as you grow older (or your loved one), in terms of keeping healthy and well?, Results: Even though all eight age-friendly domains were identified as important for health and wellbeing, community and health services was the most frequently discussed domain, followed by transportation and access to outdoor spaces and buildings. However, individual-level factors, inclusive of personal activities, attitudes and capacities, were also identified as important to rural older adults., Conclusion: Findings support the use of the World Health Organization's age-friendly city framework in assessing what is important to rural older adults' health and wellbeing, with the community and health services domain most salient. However, individual-level activities, attitudes and capacities must also be considered., (© 2019 National Rural Health Alliance Ltd.)

Informed by a critical turn underway in rural gerontology, this article explores how the intersection of global and local trends relating to population aging and rural change create contested spaces of rural aging. The aim is to build our understanding of rural as a dynamic context within which the processes, outcomes, and experiences of aging are created, confronted, and contested by older adults and their communities. A review of key developments within gerontology and rural studies reveals how competing policies, discourses, and practices relating to healthy aging and aging in place, rural citizenship and governmentality, and social inclusion and inequality combine in particular ways to empower or disempower a diverse range of older rural adults aging in a diverse range of rural communities. The article provides a contextually sensitive perspective on potential sources of conflict and exclusion for older adults in dynamic rural spaces and further enhances our understanding of how rural physical and social environments are constructed and experienced in older age. A framework for interrogating emergent questions about aging in rural contexts is developed and implications for advancing research, policy, and practice are discussed., (© The Author(s) 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Objective: Drawing from a larger study that identified the supports and services that facilitate wellness among older people from rural communities, this study examined the specific contribution made by information and communication technology (ICT)., Methods: Qualitative interviews were undertaken with 60 older adults from six Australian rural areas. A preliminary thematic analysis was conducted, followed by a higher-order inductive analysis., Results: Information and communication technology use was discussed in terms of individual enrichment, and in terms of enabling connections between the individual and their social networks, community and wider service environments., Conclusion: Information and communication technologies may facilitate wellness for rural older people by compensating for geographical and social isolation. In the changing world of health and aged care service delivery, ICTs will be more important than ever for rural older people in building their capacity to access the services, socialisation and support that they need, regardless of location., (© 2017 AJA Inc.)

This paper builds on place-based research investigating the transformative potential of volunteering for service-deprived, ageing rural communities. Here, we critically explore the relationship between communities of place, voluntarism and wellness for rural older Australians. We draw on data from a large qualitative multi-site study, and utilise Ryan et al.'s (2005) systemic model of community attachment. Findings support the dual perspective of strong community sentiments through social embeddedness in rural communities; and personal interests, associated with rational choice theory, through healthy ageing practices. Both aspects have demonstrated positive impact on wellness, but also risks to wellness associated with over-expectations of volunteers., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

This qualitative study critically explores the barriers experienced by diverse rural community stakeholders in facilitating environments that enable age-friendly social participation. Twenty-six semi-structured interviews were conducted across two rural Australian communities with stakeholders from local government, health, social care, and community organizations. Findings identify that rural community stakeholders face significant difficulties in securing resources for groups and activities catering to older adults, which subsequently impacts their capacity to undertake outreach to older adults. However, in discussing these issues, questions were raised in relation to whose responsibility it is to provide resources for community groups and organizations providing social initiatives and whose responsibility it is to engage isolated seniors. These findings provide a much-needed critical perspective on current age-friendly research by acknowledging the responsibilities of various macro-level social structures-different community-level organizations, local government, and policy in fostering environments to enable participation of diverse rural older adults.

With the growing interest worldwide in making communities more age-friendly, it is becoming increasingly important to understand the factors that help or hinder communities in attaining this goal. In this article, we focus on rural and remote communities and present perspectives of 42 experts in the areas of aging, rural and remote issues, and policy who participated in a consensus conference on age-friendly rural and remote communities. Discussions highlighted that strengths in rural and remote communities, such as easy access to local leaders and existing partnerships, can help to further age-friendly goals; however, addressing major challenges, such as lack of infrastructure and limited availability of social and health services, requires regional or national government buy-in and funding opportunities. Age-friendly work in rural and remote communities is, therefore, ideally embedded in larger age-friendly initiatives and supported by regional or national policies, programs, and funding sources.

Aim: To explore how local governance enables access to resources, creates opportunities and increases capability for older people in rural communities to experience social inclusion., Method: Twenty-six semi-structured interviews were undertaken with community stakeholders across two rural communities in north-east Victoria. Stakeholders were drawn from local government, and a range of community groups and organisations, as identified in a scoping study., Results: Through the provision of community resources (e.g. physical and human infrastructure, organisational partnerships), local services and supports offer social and productive environments for participation. They also build individual resources (e.g. health, skills, finances, networks) to enable older people to participate within these environments, and provide assistance to allow older people to use individual and community resources., Conclusions: Community resources are integral in facilitating the development of older people's individual resources, and opportunities and capabilities for participation. These enable greater choice in participation, and contribute to the sustainability of community resources serving ageing populations., (© 2013 The Authors. Australasian Journal on Ageing © 2013 ACOTA.)

This qualitative research explores how retirement migrants articulate and experience rural citizenship. In doing so, it examines the factors that influence the rights, responsibilities, and everyday practices of retirement migrants as rural citizens. Thirty-nine semi-structured interviews were conducted with people who had retired to rural communities within two local government areas in Victoria, Australia. Findings indicated that locality-based and sociocultural constructions of rurality impacted both positively and negatively on retirement migrants' ability to claim their rights, fulfil their responsibilities and their everyday experiences of inclusion. However, the relative impacts of these elements of rurality on retirement migrants were mediated by expectations of rural community settings. These expectations were associated with motivations for relocation, lifecourse experiences, individual mobilities and resources. These findings highlight the differential, temporal and precarious nature of citizenship for rural ageing cohorts and contribute to our understanding of how rurality and individual determinants intersect to facilitate processes of inclusion or exclusion for diverse older people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]