Older people in rural areas can experience disadvantage in many ways, from difficulty in accessing services to financial hardship. This pilot study highlights the different forms of disadvantage and their impact on rural older people's quality of life.

Our study concentrates on four types of disavantage that can limit quality of life:

• Lack of access to material resources
• Inadequate or poor quality social relations
• Lack of access to services and amenities
• Disadvantage linked to rural community change

The primary aim of the report is to provide evidence of the lived experience of older people in rural communities, enabling their voices to be heard, and addressing five key questions:

• What are the key charactersitics of disadvantage faced by rural older people, and how are these identified through individual's narratives?
• How does the experience of disadvantage vary according to such factors as age, gender, health status and rurality?
• To what extent does disadvantage reflect the influence of life course factors and/or the impact of old age? Why do some people who experience multiple forms of disadvantage report a good quality of life and what are the policy implications of this?
• In what ways does rural disadvantage vary from that experienced by urban older people?

Designed as a pilot, the study also provides useful lessons for future studies of rural ageing.