Connected Communities Featured as a Rural Health Model

Posted on August 27, 2026 by Gina DiMaggio

LeadingAge Minnesota Foundation’s Connected Communities for Healthy Aging is now featured in the Rural Health Information Hub’s national collection of rural health Models and Innovations.

The in-depth profile highlights how aging services providers and their community partners are building more coordinated systems of support for older adults across rural Minnesota. It explores the initiative’s approach, early results and lessons learned, along with examples of how the five pilot communities are addressing social isolation, transportation barriers, caregiver needs, digital access and other challenges that can make it difficult to age safely at home.

The profile also features the Connected Communities Development Guide and Digital Toolkit, a free resource created to help other communities apply what the pilot sites have learned. The toolkit walks users through forming local partnerships, understanding community needs and assets, developing shared priorities, measuring progress and planning for long-term sustainability.

Connected Communities began in 2020 and now includes five pilot communities led by LeadingAge Minnesota members: Perham Health, Vivie, St. John’s Lutheran Community, Guardian Angels and Bethesda. Together, the pilots have built hundreds of partnerships across healthcare, public health, transportation, housing, mental health, faith communities and other sectors. More than 8,000 older adults have received support through the initiative.

Being included in the Rural Health Information Hub gives this work greater visibility among rural healthcare leaders, community organizations, funders and policymakers across the country. It also creates a new opportunity for others to discover and learn from the innovative work taking place in Minnesota’s aging services communities.

Read the Connected Communities profile and explore the free toolkit to see how the approach could support collaboration in your community.