Recently, the Rural Policy Advisory Commission (RPAC) issued an updated 2026 Rural Policy Plan for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, which offers recommendation across topics such as housing, education, economic development, transportation, public health, and municipal sustainability. Implications of an aging demographic in rural parts of Massachusetts are mentioned throughout these sections and many of the action items relate directly to support older adults in these communities.

The 2026 Rural Policy Plan builds directly on the 2019 Plan while reorganizing the document to make it more useful to policymakers, practitioners, and local officials. This update organizes each chapter around a clear statement of rural conditions, a concise set of challenges and opportunities, and a focused menu of recommendations that state and local partners can realistically act on within the next several years.

To aid implementation, the 2026 Rural Policy Plan sorts recommendations into four types: policy, funding, programming, and legislative.

The report notes that population projections through 2050 anticipate that rural Massachusetts will continue to grow older at a more rapid pace than non-rural Massachusetts.

Recommendations in the plan call for things like expansion of elder property tax deferrals and senior work off programs as well as digital equity for older adults.

The report specifically states that “Without careful attention to capacity, equity, and local context, and aligning rural health and public health investments with transportation, broadband and digital equity, housing, age-friendly initiatives, and climate-resilience efforts there is a risk that the benefits of these reforms and investments will flow primarily to better-resourced organizations or regions, leaving the most isolated and economically distressed rural communities behind.”

More information is available in the full policy plan here.