Carol Chiang

Carol Chiang is a globally recognized aging-in-place expert, occupational therapist, Parkinson’s advocate, and the host of Innovative Aging, a Medbridge podcast that explores cutting-edge innovations in aging. With more than 27 years of clinical experience, Carol is known for blending practicality with compassion, focusing on person-centered design that empowers individuals and supports caregivers. A graduate of McGill University in Canada, Carol began her career at Brooks Rehab, one of the nation’s premier inpatient rehabilitation facilities, before spending more than a decade in home health. This deep, firsthand experience shaped her understanding of the real-life challenges older adults and their families face inside their homes.

As the founder of Evolving Homes®, Carol created the signature service Age in Place or Find a New Space®, a groundbreaking approach that helps families confidently decide whether remodeling or relocating will best support their needs, values, and long-term quality of life. For Carol, aging in place is not just about grab bars—it’s about understanding each person’s story, environment, and caregivers, and building solutions that preserve dignity, independence, and human connection.

Carol’s expertise is trusted by leading organizations such as MIT AgeLab, Toyota Research Institute, AARP, and UBS, and she is frequently invited to speak at global conferences on topics including smart-home technology, the future of housing for aging populations, and Parkinson’s-specific, aging-in-place strategies. She has led national webinars for the National Kitchen and Bath Association, AARP, and the Davis Phinney Foundation and has been featured on CNBC and by Hartford Funds Investor Insights for her insights on home design and planning for retirement.

In 2021, Carol filmed a TV pilot titled No Place Like Home that explored luxury aging-in-place solutions and emerging technologies that support independence. Her research on caregiving robots was published in Applied Sciences in 2025, in the peer-reviewed article “Exploring Embodiment Form Factors of a Home-Helper Robot,” which examined how robotic design can build trust and improve caregiver support in the home.

An engaging speaker and passionate educator, Carol frequently guest lectures for occupational therapy, architecture, and design graduate programs, where she champions interdisciplinary collaboration and inspires future professionals to embrace clinical reasoning and design thinking in their work. Her unique ability to combine real-world clinical insights with practical solutions makes her a dynamic voice in the field of aging.

Carol is a McGill Sports Hall of Fame inductee and an Olympic-caliber swimmer. She brings resilience, curiosity, and a relentless drive to solve complex challenges to everything she does. She is the author of Age In Place or Find a New Space: How to Create Beautiful Spaces That Promote Meaningful Interactions.

On the Innovative Aging podcast, Carol reframes aging as a season of empowerment, innovation, and opportunity—not decline.