UNH Today

Without in-person access to a nearby U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) field office and a knowledgeable staff member, people —specifically older adults and those with disabilities — had a significant decrease in access to social security disability, retirement and survivor benefits and services.

These are primary findings from a new study from UNH’s Institute on Disability (IOD), which looked at rural residents’ access to social security benefits and information.

“Many of these rural residents were overwhelmed by what they called red tape and paperwork and when they had questions, concerns or issues about a benefit or even how to fill out an application, they often found it challenging to try to get information or help by email, phone or even through the postal service.”

“Many of these rural residents were overwhelmed by what they called red tape and paperwork and when they had questions, concerns or issues about a benefit or even how to fill out an application, they often found it challenging to try to get information or help by email, phone or even through the postal service,” says Debra Brucker, research associate professor at the IOD. “They much preferred, and benefitted from, meeting one-on-one with an individual at their local Social Security Administration field office — often commenting on how kind, patient and helpful the staff were. Unfortunately, not every rural county has a local SSA field office.”

In the study, conducted in 2024 and now available prior to peer review as a pre-print article, Brucker and her team outline the research done with residents in rural New Hampshire who were older adults (age 62+) or were living with disabilities. They found that the main barriers for rural residents applying for or seeking information about benefits included finding transportation to an SSA field office when there wasn’t one in their community, lack of accessible program information and lack of computer access, including reliable Internet service and knowledge about how to use computers, tablets or smart phones.

Trying to correspond online or by phone often led to misunderstanding, missed opportunities and increased need for in-person visits for program applicants and participants. The study also revealed that those with stronger networks — like family, friends, lawyers or other service providers such as medical doctors or case managers — did better because they had someone to help with simple tasks like the application process.

“They may have received something in the mail that they didn’t understand, or they found it too difficult to fill out a complicated application, and just having someone who can take the time to walk them through process and help explain it can be powerful to help them get vital services,” Brucker says. “Many people noted that they lacked affordable transportation. Even if they did have access to transportation, they would often have to drive long distances to get to and from a Social Security Administration field office because there wasn’t one closer.”

Rural residents shared their suggestions to improve SSA’s customer service, saying there was room for improvement to provide necessary accommodations for people with disabilities and that offering more opportunities for in-person service could benefit all rural residents. They felt the SSA could find ways to offer in-person outreach — helping people with necessary tasks and applications. Some ideas included community outreach — offering presentations at local community centers to groups of people, as well as one-on-one sessions that could assist with processes. Beyond suggestions for SSA, these residents suggested enhancing services available at existing community agencies, such as aging, independent living, mental health services or vocational rehabilitation agencies, to make available more targeted support and education around SSA programs.

Brucker and her co-authors say future studies conducted in collaboration with rural community members and organizations could help develop and test the impact of such support initiatives on not only the administrative and psychological burden experienced by these residents but also on the need for additional customer contacts and administrative actions on the part of SSA. 

Co-authors on this study include Stacia Bach, IOD policy analyst; Megan Henly, research assistant professor at the IOD; IOD Director Andrew Houtenville and Kelly Nye-Lengerman, former IOD director.

A portion of the work was funded by the U.S. Social Security Administration as part of the Retirement and Disability Research Consortium.