Older Texans living in rural areas may face challenges in accessing resources and services not felt by their urban counterparts, especially related to fall risk reduction. In a state the size of Texas, entities wishing to serve these individuals encounter barriers due to the vast geography that must be covered to reach rural communities. This paper explores a novel partnership between a university and a community organization to work toward rural equity in fall risk reduction education in Texas. We apply the Interactive and Contextual Model of Community-University Collaboration to describe efforts to gain entry into rural communities, develop and sustain the partnership, recognize outcomes, and resolve threats. Through shared decision-making and co-creation, we show how university-community partnerships can be a powerful tool for promoting rural equity and ensuring older, rural Texans have access to fall risk reduction education.
Keywords: Rural equity; community-based education; cooperative Extension; fall risk reduction; university-Community partnership.