WASHINGTON — Lutheran Services in America announces a new partnership with The SCAN Foundation to launch Rural Voices 2025: Elevating the Resilience of Rural Older Adults Navigating Medicare-Medicaid, a human-centered initiative that uplifts the lived experiences of low-income older adults in rural and frontier communities. This timely project addresses persistent disparities in healthcare access and aging policy by engaging rural older adults directly in conversations that shape national solutions.
With a generous investment from The SCAN Foundation, the project expands on Lutheran Services in America’s longstanding commitment to rural aging and its national Rural Aging Action Network. Rural Voices 2025 will gather firsthand insights from dual-eligible Medicare and Medicaid recipients in South Dakota and Minnesota — two states where older adults are underrepresented in policy and disproportionately impacted by provider shortages, limited infrastructure, and fragmented healthcare systems.
“This partnership with The SCAN Foundation allows us to center the stories and needs of older adults living in rural areas — especially those often excluded from national conversations that shape systems and resources impacting their lives,” said Alesia Frerichs, president and CEO of Lutheran Services in America. “Their voices are essential to shaping responsive systems of care that honor the dignity of aging in place regardless of where someone calls home.”
“At The SCAN Foundation, we believe that every older adult deserves the opportunity to age with independence and choice. This partnership with Lutheran Services in America ensures that the voices of older adults in rural communities — too often unheard — are elevated and reflected in the policies and systems that shape their care,” said Narda Ipakchi, vice president of policy at The SCAN Foundation.
With support from Lutheran Services in America, Public Policy Lab will engage older adults through in-person, in-depth interviews in rural Minnesota and South Dakota to better understand the challenges they face in accessing care and aging in place. Using a human-centered design approach, the project will explore what rural older adults need to age in place, the barriers they face in navigating healthcare systems, and how faith-based nonprofit services contribute to their wellbeing.
Learnings from the participant interviews and personal stories will be synthesized into a publication offering rich insights that inform actionable recommendations. These insights will be shared broadly with policymakers, advocates, researchers, and national faith partners. The findings will also expand the reach of The People Say, an online research hub featuring first-hand insights from older adults and caregivers on the issues most important to them. The People Say is funded by The SCAN Foundation and developed by researchers and designers at the Public Policy Lab.
About Lutheran Services in America
Lutheran Services in America is one of the nation’s largest national networks of health and human service providers with a mission to cultivate caring communities that advance health and opportunity for all Americans. With 300 nonprofit organizations across 1,400 U.S. communities, the Lutheran Services in America network works to improve outcomes for children, youth and families, improves independence and choice for older adults, champions meaningful services and support for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and strengthens stability and purpose for veterans and others. Formed in 1997, Lutheran Services in America brings together a network of leaders, partners and funders to catalyze innovation, strengthen organizational capacity and advance public policy.
About The SCAN Foundation
The SCAN Foundation (TSF) envisions a society where all of us can age well with purpose. We pursue this vision by igniting bold and equitable changes in how older adults age in both home and community. Our grants and impact investments prioritize communities that have been historically marginalized with an emphasis on: older people of color, older adults with lower incomes, and older residents in rural communities. Learn more at www.thescanfoundation.org.
