Episode 15:2 Carol Chiang on Home Health and Planning for the Future

Carol Chiang, OTR/L, CAPS, ECHM, CHAMP, founder and CEO of Evolving Homes®, shares insights from her 25 years as an occupational therapist. As a “professional problem solver,” she helps clients create a personal advisory board to optimize their environment and quality of life.

About Carol

Carol Chiang is an Occupational Therapist, Aging in Place and AgeTech Expert. She is the founder of Evolving Homes® which specializes in luxury accessibility for homeowners designing their forever homes. She is the creator of Age in Place or Find a New Space®, a service which determines if moving to a new home is more cost effective than remodeling an existing home.

Carol is an Aging in Place and AgeTech consultant for Toyota Research Institute, MITAgeLab, AARP and AARP AgeTech Collaborative where she teaches innovators what challenges their target markets face. She has been a speaker at numerous conferences including the Planning for Longevity Advisors Network Form at MIT, University of Florida’s Parkinsons Symposium, UBS’s Family Forum and the Rehab Tech Summit. She has appeared in national webinars for the National Kitchen and Bath Association, AARP and Davis Phinney Foundation. She also filmed a pilot TV show about luxury Aging in Place in 2021.

Carol is a former elite athlete, missing the 1996 Olympic Team cut by 1/10th of a second. She enjoys challenges and has climbed Mt. Kilamanjaro, lived abroad as an ex-pat and speaks multiple languages including English, French, Chinese. She is very active in her community as a Rotarian and has a special interest in building multi-generational relationships between teens and older adults in programs such as the MIT AgeLab Omega.

Key Takeaways

• Planning allows for better decision making and saves money. Start home modifications early and evolve as needs change. Construction is challenging no matter how well you plan for it.

• Occupational therapists look at the big picture with a focus on what is most meaningful. An example is the addition of raised planter beds if you love gardening but can’t crouch down due to knee surgery.
• Fall prevention is not installing grab bars, it is looking at the whole person and all the pieces, including caregivers and finances.
• Social networks are a critical component of aging in place. Local community is vitally important for connection and support.