Differentiating Rural Aging Out of Place: A Conceptual Framework and Illustrative Australian Cases

ABSTRACT

Aging in place depends not only on formal care supply or continued residence. Existing research identifies many conditions that support aging in place, including housing, mobility, social connection, and care This article builds on that literature by conceptualizing aging in/out of place as a continuum reflecting whether the supports required for everyday life remain effectively available within or connected to the locality in which older people live, or whether older people become practically excluded from them. The framework distinguishes supported aging in place, borderline aging in/out of place, and de facto aging out of place, and does not treat relocation as the sole marker of aging out of place. It is illustrated through selected rural Australian localities using secondary documentary and statistical sources. The analysis shows how housing disruption, cumulative access pressure, mobility‐limited‐service usability, and provider concentration can strain support viability in different ways within a shared national aged‐care system.