ASU Nursing College secures $5.8M grant to address aging

ASU’s Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation recently received a $5.8 million grant to create a center that confronts the issue of aging solo and living alone while in cognitive decline.

As part of our monthly AARP-sponsored segment highlighting issues important to older adults in Arizona, Professor Fang Yu of Edson College joined “Arizona Horizon” to discuss more about the grant and overall aging. Professor Yu is the principal investigator and center director.

“When we talk about cognitive decline, it can be in multiple phases,” Professor Yu said. “When people begin to notice themselves, their cognition is declining, that’s called subjective cognitive decline…as their cognition declines further and affects their daily functioning…that’s more than likely they are entering into the dementia phase.”

The grant was presented by the National Institute on Aging (NIA), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This grant will be turned into the Edward R. Roybal Center, with only 15 other U.S. universities and institutes being awarded a center.

“What our center hoping to bridge the gap in the lack of caregivers is using technology to augment existing care and services” Yu said.

Some of these examples include: web-based care programs, app-based programs, virtual reality, AI-dream algorithms. This is intended to help people make better decisions, and function for daily life.

“…30 to 40% of cognitive decline was due to behaviors like exercise, how well you manage chronic conditions, how you sleep, what you eat,” Professor Yu said, “…those factors.”

The ASU Roybal Center for Older Adults Living Alone with Cognitive Decline will build research infrastructure and advance clinical trials to develop and adapt technology. The end goal is to create solutions to support older adults in maintaining their independence while managing the challenges of cognitive change.