Rural Development

According to World Bank, "ninety percent of the poor in Vietnam, or three quarters of the population live in the rural areas." These people rely on agriculture activities to live and survive. Policies and reforms have contributed to development and progress in this sector as Vietnam is transitioning into a market economy. People in these rural areas now have rights to land use and incentives to work because of higher crop prices. Furthermore, the community has offered job trainings to rural people. Though progress has been made, they still face problems such as unsustainable natural resources and vulnerability to natural disasters. This makes people wary, not wanting to expand in the rural regions.

Limited investments mean limited resources for the people there. It means that people will not have access to modern health care (hospitals, medicines, etc.) or access to services and organizations that can assist them. This will greatly influence the elderly and aging population. Having extra resources can only help them if they decide to use them one day. Development is good in that it introduces new things to the elders, granting them their source of entertainment. Many Vietnamese elders in rural areas do enjoy living a leisure lifestyle, but they also want to be active. Professionals such as occupational therapists would agree that active involvement helps people live a better life because it stimulates their mind. Even with repetitive activities, they are constantly doing something, helping with cognitive processing and steering away from cognitive decline.