ABSTRACT
The role of the National Rural Health Association (NRHA) in affecting policy change on behalf of older adults in rural communities is considered. The NRHA is a nonprofit membership organization that promotes policies to ensure the availability of health services for rural older adults through education, research, and advocacy. Collaboration across health-care entities in rural communities is reflected in the unique structure of NRHA and in how it develops and promotes policy. While the NRHA serves as an example of a national external policy agent affecting change, the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy serves as a focal point for rural health policy and grant administration from within the federal government. The strategies that national organizations such as the NRHA employ to affect policy are varied and numerous. In 2017, NRHA developed an updated national policy paper that recognizes the current state of rural telehealth adoption and provides a good example of the everchanging rural health policy landscape.
