The CONNECT Study (Collaboration On Neighborhood Needs and Elder Care Transitions)

The CONNECT Study (Collaboration On Neighborhood Needs and Elder Care Transitions)

Project Team
Iffath Syed, Assistant Professor and Program Coordinator, Health Policy and Administration

Project Funding
Commonwealth Campus Funding

Project Description

Using a mixed-methods approach, the CONNECT study (Collaboration on Neighborhood Needs and Elder Care Transitions) will illuminate the health equity concerns of aging populations in rural and urban communities. A goal is to inform policies and interventions to break down barriers to good health and wellbeing and improve quality of health and social care for aging adults in economically vulnerable contexts. The proposed study will inventory and explore barriers and facilitators of healthy aging among residents in several counties of the Appalachian region. The study will be attentive to the needs of aging rural dwellers and their readiness for various age-related transitions. For example, for those who are considering retirement within the next decade, what are the needs for a healthy and sustainable transition into retirement? For those who are elders, what are the needs for transitions from hospital care to assisted living/rehabilitative care, or from institutional nursing to home care? Furthermore, this study will also investigate how the transition from COVID-19 to post-COVID-19 conditions has impacted peoples’ mental, physical, and social wellbeing, as well as the impacts on vulnerable neighborhoods and communities. The meaning of aging rural dwellers is broadly conceived to encompass those who are 50+ years old living in rural and remote communities.