Chiayu Chen is one of the de Tornyay Center for Healthy Aging’s 2026-2027 Healthy Aging Scholars. Her project is on “Support Transitions Between Levels of Care at a local retirement community”, and her faculty mentor is Jamie Young.
Why did you choose to go into nursing?
It started with my grandfather, who had liver cancer. During that time, he was very depressed, overwhelmed, and anxious about his diagnosis.
However, the nurses on the medical team were very supportive. They cared not only for my grandfather’s condition but also supported my family when we felt overwhelmed. That was when I realized that a nurse’s job is very meaningful. They are the people who care for patients during vulnerable and difficult times.
What interests you about healthy aging and working with older adults?
I started to get interested in healthy aging because I noticed different health patterns in my family members. For example, my grandfather had an unhealthy lifestyle and didn’t take care of himself. But my grandmother paid attention to her health and stayed active, both mentally and physically, and also volunteered, even when she was already 80 years old. I saw completely different outcomes in my grandparents, so that was when I started to think about what factors lead to healthy aging.
Also, during my clinical rotation, I worked with many elderly patients. They were experiencing life changes and adjusting to new stages of life, trying to build a new identity, and dealing with social isolation.
So both my personal experience and my clinical experience sparked my interest in healthy aging.
You mentioned you’ve worked with older adults in your clinical rotations. Did you have previous experience working with older adults before that?
I have experience caring for older adults, especially patients with dementia, from my time working in an acute psychiatry unit. These patients were often quite challenging because many of them were unable to care for themselves, which placed a significant burden on both healthcare providers and their families.
In addition, I volunteered at an Active Aging Center, where we organized activities such as karaoke, gentle exercise, handicrafts, and even a fashion runway. Through these experiences, I learned that older adults can still be active members of the community, and I also realized the importance of dementia prevention in maintaining their quality of life.
How do you feel like the work that you did with patients with dementia ties into the work that you’re doing now?
Because of these experiences, I became more interested in early identification and prevention. In my current project, which focuses on supporting transitions between levels of care, I’m trying to help staff recognize early signs of decline and respond earlier.
So instead of waiting until patients reach a crisis point, the goal is to support them earlier and help maintain their independence and quality of life as much as possible.
What is the project that you’re doing with the de Tornyay Center Scholarship?
My project focuses on supporting transitions between different levels of care at a retirement community. Currently, they have two sectors: independent living and assisted living.
Right now, they don’t have very clear guidelines for the transition, such as when residents should transition and what the requirements are for assisted living. We also found that many residents have stigma toward assisted living and are hesitant to move forward. Sometimes, they are not aware of their mental and functional decline.
My focus is on educating non-clinical staff to better recognize and assess residents’ functional decline. They are the people who interact with residents most often and can notice changes in their function. I developed a checklist for them and provided examples to help them better understand what functional decline looks like, so they can assess residents and start conversations about transitions earlier.
Why is work important to do?
Currently, there is a gap in evidence. There isn’t enough research on transitions from independent living to assisted living, so it is difficult for facilities to find clear guidance to follow.
At the same time, the retirement community I’m working with does not have structured training or a shared documentation tool for staff to communicate changes in residents’ conditions.
So in my project, I’m reviewing existing evidence and working closely with staff at the site to develop a checklist that is tailored to their needs. This helps create a more structured way to recognize decline and improve team communication.
I think this work also benefits residents, their families, and the community. If residents can stay safe and supported in their current setting, we can reduce emergency visits and medical costs, and also relieve some of the burden on families.
While you’ve been working on this project, has there been anything that surprised you?
What surprised me the most is that there are many issues to address. I see there are opportunities for future students to explore residents’ hesitation about transitions and the barriers to moving between levels of care. So I think there is still a lot we can do, and what I’m doing right now is just the first step.