In an aging world, there is increased need to identify places and characteristics of places that promote health among older adults. This study examines whether there are rural-urban differences in older adult social participation and its relationship with health. Using the 2003 and 2011 waves of the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (n=3,006), I find that older adults living in rural counties are less socially active than their counterparts in more-urban counties. I also find that relationships between social participation and health vary by both activity and place.

Objective This study examines relationships between local-area age structure and health at older ages. Method We estimate random intercept models for two disability measures using four-waves of data from a national panel study of 3,580 Japanese older adults. Results Elderly living in relatively older areas reported more difficulties with activities of daily living compared to those living in an “average” age structure. Controlling for individual characteristics and time did little to change this relationship; while a similar relationship between older age structure and functional limitations emerged. Discussion Residents of relatively older are as tended to have lower socioeconomic status, but this “disadvantage” was offset by their higher rates of employment and marriage. These compositional differences highlight the role of local-area age structure in identifying and understanding elderly health variation between places.

These results suggest that while subjective health "improvements" among the oldest-old may be a sign of successful aging, they should be interpreted critically and cautiously.

Relative differences in municipal age structure and the pace of population aging are largely unexplored and potentially important correlates of older adult health. This line of research is increasingly salient in a world with substantial and growing regional variation in population aging.

These findings suggest that the well-established associations between SRH status and mortality may understate the risk of death for oldest-old individuals with recent subjective health improvements.