Exploring Rural Health Disparities in Alzheimer's Disease

Our goal is to characterize cognitive aging and biological markers of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia in adults and older adults aging in rural communities.

There is emerging evidence that older adults living in rural communities are at increased risk for Alzheimer’s disease (AD); however, rural communities have been severely underrepresented in AD research, and the factors that may be contributing to these urban-rural disparities are unclear. Our long-term goal is to fully characterize cognitive aging and validate AD-specific biomarkers among rural-dwelling older adults. This project will enrich the biomarker characterization of our rural cohort and facilitate identification of the most viable blood markers for use in rural-dwelling older adults.

Rural populations have been severely underrepresnted in aging research, and most research done has been retrospective. The proposed project will lay the foundation to establish community cohort of rural-dwelling adults focusing with the specific goal of studying cognitive aging and the factors leading to health disparities faced by this population.

The proposed project will create a valuable community cohort of rural older adults, addressing their underrepresentation in aging research. Insights gained will shed light on the factors contributing to urban-rural AD/ADRD disparities that can be used to inform public health campaigns and other novel interventions to target these chronic diseases in rural communities.