ABSTRACT
Social determinants of health are particularly important for older adults, as they have had more time to be exposed to the impacts of such determinants over their lifetimes, leading to accumulated advantage or disadvantage in health. While different definitions of social determinants of health exist, it is generally useful to look at them through the lens of socio-demographic and economic characteristics, community infrastructure and physical environment, and social connectedness. It is particularly challenging to address social connectedness in rural areas because of the aforementioned issues around transportation and broadband access, making these multifaceted but crucially important social determinants of health. Any efforts to improve the health and well-being of rural older adults and to address rural-urban and intra-rural disparities in health for older adults need to include a focus on the social determinants of health.
