# Environmental Extremes and the Health of the Rural Elderly

> **NIH NIH R03** · UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO · 2023 · $143,646

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
This project examines the physical and mental health impacts of extreme environmental events on the elderly,
with an emphasis on how these impacts vary across the rural-urban continuum. Extreme environmental events
— such as floods, wildfires, and hurricanes — are increasing in frequency and severity (Hayhoe et al. 2018)
and rural residents are especially vulnerable given their lower levels of health insurance coverage (Cohen et al.
2021) and lesser access to health care. Physician density is much lower in rural areas (Machado et al. 2021)
and ongoing hospital closures mean longer transport times, including for emergency care (GAO 2021). In fact,
rural dwellers are already subject to the “rural mortality penalty” in that they already have lower life
expectancies compared to their urban counterparts (Miller and Vasan 2021). We combine data on physical and
mental health from the National Health Interview Survey, historical weather data, FEMA disaster declarations,
and background on the scale and scope extreme environmental events and then link these to indicators of
ruralness based on the USDA’s rural-urban continuum. We emphasize the connections between extreme
environmental events and health for the rural elderly by contrasting the association for this group with that for
younger individuals and urban dwellers. Of additional interest is the potential for social support and connection
to be protective. In urban areas, social isolation has been found to play a role in mortality in disasters such as
the loss of elderly life in the Chicago heat wave of 1995 (Klinenberg 2015). However, rural areas are
characterized by relatively stronger social bonds (Henning-Smith et al. 2019) and we therefore examine the
possibility of such connections benefiting the rural elderly in times of disaster. In all, this project is the first of its
kind and provides information important for the development of programs and policies to protect elderly health
in the context of rising environmental extremes.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10740958
- **Project number:** 1R03AG080252-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO
- **Principal Investigator:** LORI M. HUNTER
- **Activity code:** R03 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2023
- **Award amount:** $143,646
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2023-09-15 → 2026-09-14

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10740958

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10740958, Environmental Extremes and the Health of the Rural Elderly (1R03AG080252-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10740958. Licensed CC0.

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