Many rural areas of the world have older populations than their urban counterparts and are undergoing rapid socioeconomic and demographic changes. In the opening chapter, Keating and Phillips acknowledge that despite growing policy interest in the environmental context of ageing, in some countries, older people in rural areas have not always been well served by policy makers or social researchers. This has generated calls for multi-disciplinary and critical research to move beyond generalised, statistical and stereotypical depictions of urban and rural areas and their populations. The aim is to critically explore the personal experience of ageing in changing social contexts.

This concise book is timely in providing an inter-disciplinary and critical theoretical approach to rural ageing research. Organised into 12 short chapters, it combines critical theoretical perspectives with findings from multi-method studies conducted in diverse rural settings in two Western societies, namely Canada and the United Kingdom. The authors span a range of disciplinary backgrounds, all with expertise in researching ageing in diverse rural contexts. Subjects covered include: disability issues, social networks, access to care and support, mobility, social participation, social exclusion, gender and the formation of attachment to place, and the characteristics of age-friendly communities. Each chapter critically considers the central question: ‘are rural communities good places to grow old?’. The answer, of course, is ‘yes and no’.

The complex and contested nature of what might constitute ‘rural’ in any national context is acknowledged throughout the book. Yet, as Chapman and Peace (chapter 3) explain, ‘rurality’ can be a significant element of personal identity. This means that understanding attachment to place in later life necessitates investigating the ‘meaning’ of rural for individuals. Keating and Phillips use the introductory chapter to outline the Critical Human Ecological perspective that informs the rest of the book. Combining theoretical and conceptual insights from human ecology and critical gerontology, this perspective embraces a multi-level approach to the study of personal interactions with different aspects or layers of ‘environment’. At local or micro-environmental level, this includes taking account of the natural and physical setting, the built environment, and the community, social and cultural context in which, as Keating (p. 121) depicts personal lives ‘unfold’.

Although examined here to a lesser extent, the Critical Human Ecology perspective takes account of macro-environmental factors, considering how power, inequality, the political economy and policy have a differential impact on individual lives and different community settings. The interplay between structural factors, cultural influences, individual choice and changing personal circumstances and the environment are depicted as complex and dynamic processes that are constantly renegotiated throughout the life-course. Themes of continuity and change, inclusion and exclusion, and their links to different aspects of ‘time’ and the life-course are investigated. Using the example of disability and ageing in a rural context, Daly and Grant (in chapter 2) outline the core concepts and theories underpinning the life course perspective and their potential to shift the focus away from the ‘problems of old age’. Chapman and Peace (chapter 3) continue the life-course approach in their ethnographic study of place attachment and identity amongst older women in remote farming communities of Canada and villages in rural England. Dobbs and Strain (chapter 9) explore the impact of loss of mobility among people living in rural areas and their ability to ‘stay connected’. Scharf and Bartlam (chapter 10) provide a multi-dimensional perspective on social exclusion that yields valuable insights into the complex individual pathways to rural disadvantage.

Living arrangements and support availability become important issues in situations where access to formal support services and local facilities may be declining. In chapter 4, Wenger and Keating discuss the concept of support network typologies, using longitudinal research findings from rural Wales to illustrate how different types of networks evolve as people move into late old age. Sims-Gould and Martin-Matthews continue the care and support theme in chapter 5, exploring interpersonal relationships in formal home care services in rural areas of Canada. They highlight the important role played by home-care services in many rural settings and critically discuss the factors that may support or limit their availability.

Fast and de Jong Gierveld (chapter 7) and Rozanova, Dosman and de Jong Gierveld (chapter 8) investigate social participation and perceptions of social integration across the life-course amongst adults of all ages, including those experiencing activity limitations in both urban and rural settings. Older adults emerge as significant providers of help and support to people of all ages in both urban and rural communities through formal volunteering and informal helping and caring activities. Community solutions to perceived service deficits feature in chapter 6 where Chappell, Schroeder and Gibbens describe the development of three carer-led projects providing respite support in remote parts of Canada. Whilst acknowledging the satisfaction gained through social participation, the authors draw attention to differences in community capacity and infrastructure, highlighting issues of ‘volunteer fatigue’ when community work and/or caring is undertaken through necessity rather than choice.

Eales, Keefe and Keating (chapter 11) identify differences, and potential tensions, between the needs and expectations of ‘community active’ and ‘stoic’ older adults in considering the criteria for ‘age-friendly communities’. Critical investigation of how these tensions play out in community planning processes would be illuminating. In the concluding chapter, Keating revisits the concept of ‘person-environment fit’ and the positive aspects of ageing in a place to which one is attached. However, she highlights the potential for disadvantaged rural residents and those from visible minority communities to face exclusion from social participation and services. People with mental health problems and their experiences of social inclusion and exclusion within a rural setting would be a further area to explore.

Overall, this book provides a concise, comprehensive and critically focussed overview of rural ageing issues, although, as Keating observes it is geographically restricted in its coverage to the ‘Northern Hemisphere’. Nevertheless, the extensive bibliography is a useful resource and signposts readers to research from other national contexts.