Eligible to Direct Dissertations

Education

Postdoctoral Fellowship (Behavioral Gerontology), Indiana University
PhD (Gerontology), Case Western Reserve University
MSN (Adult Health), Wright State University
BSN, Bethel College

Research Areas

Health & Community Systems

Specialties and Expertise

Awards and Honors

Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing (FAAN)
Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America (FGSA) Behavioral and Social Science

Biography

Dr. Lu’s research is anchored in the field of positive health, strength-based and family-centered interventions, especially promoting engagement activities, functional performance, and quality life in older adults with cognitive impairment and their family caregivers. Dr. Lu research was externally funded by the NIA-supported Indiana Alzheimer Disease Center (P30-AG072976-01), NINR (R01 NR018162-01), NIA (R61 AG070265-01), and NIA (R24- AG071471-01).

Recently, Dr. Lu was awarded an R01 grant from the NINR and an R24 grant from the NIA. Her R01 study project entitled “Promoting Reengagement in Daily Meaningful Activity Intervention for Adults with Mild Cognitive Impairment and Their Caregivers" involves a randomized, controlled trial to study her “Daily Engagement in Meaningful Activity” (DEMA) intervention against a comparison condition to improve outcomes in older persons with mild cognitive impairment and family caregivers. Her R24 study, “The Collaborative for Aging Research and Engagement (CARE),” seeks to engage African Americans ages 45 and older to participate in Clinical Alzheimer’s Disease and related dementia studies. Dr. Lu also was awarded the first portion of an R61/R33 grant from the National Institute on Aging for her project titled “Daily Engagement in Meaningful Activities Professional (DEMA-Pro) Intervention for Seniors with Subjective Cognitive Decline Living at Home." In the R61 phase, her research team will establish the organizational structure and processes and pilot test DEMA-Pro in 4 home health service facilities in partnership with Kindred at Home, Gentiva Health Services, a division of Humana that encompasses 400 sites across 40 states.

External Funding

2021-2026. (P30 AG072976-01, NIH, NIA). Indiana University Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (To recruit, clinically characterize, and longitudinally follow patients with mild cognitive impairment, Alzheimer's disease, non-Alzheimer's disease, mixed dementia and healthy controls, and identify clinically characterized families (PI: Andrew Saykin; Leader of Outreach Recruitment and Engagement Core, Sophia Wang, Co-faculty: Yvonne Lu).

2021-2024. (R24 AG071471-01, NIH, NIA). "The Collaborative for Aging Research and Engagement (CARE)." (Primary Contact PI; PIs: Barnes P, Shih P, & Hill C.)

2020-2024. (R01 NR018162-01, NIH, NINR). "Promoting Reengagement in Meaningful Activity (PRIMA) Intervention for Adults with Mild Cognitive Impairment and Their Family Caregivers." (PI).

2020-2021, R61 1st year. (R61 AG070265-01 NIH, NIA). "Pragmatic Trials for Dementia Care in Long-term Services and Support Settings" (R61/R33). "The Daily Engagement in Meaningful Activities Professional (DEMA-Pro) Intervention for Seniors with Subjective Cognitive Decline and Living at Home." (PI).

2020-2021. Sigma Theta Tau International (STTI) Nursing Honor Society, Alpha Chapter, Research Grant. "Experience and Activation of People with Opioid Use Disorder in an Intensive Outpatient Program.” (PI/Mentor).

Publications

Keen, A., Lu, Y., Oruche, U., Mazurenko, O., & Draucker, C. (2022). Activation in persons with mental health disorders: An integrative review. [Manuscript submitted for publication]. School of Nursing, Indiana University. 

Keen, A., Lu, Y., & Draucker, C. (2021). “Connecting and disconnecting: Experiences of persons with opioid use disorder in  intensive outpatient treatment.” Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, e1-e10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsat.2021.108657

Keen, A., Lu, Y., Oruche, U., Mazurenko, O., & Draucker, C. (2021). Activation in persons with mental health disorders: An integrative review. Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing, e1-e27. https://doi.org/10.1111/jpm.12789 

Liu, C.-J., Change, P.-S., Griffin, C. F., Hanson, S., & Lu, Y. (2021). The nexus of sensory loss, cognitive impairment, and functional decline in older adults: A scoping review. The Gerontologist.  https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnab082

Chang, P.-S., Lu, Y. Y.-F., Nguyen, C. M., Suh, Y., Luciani, M., Ofner, S., & Powell, S. (2020). Qigong exercise in physical and psychological health of middle-aged and older blacks. Western Journal of Nursing Research.  https://doi.org/10.1177/0193945920959067

Lee,Y., Lu, Y. Y.-F., & Chiou, C.-J. (2019). “Lessons learned from developing web-based educational support blogs for family caregivers in Taiwan.” The Journal of Long-Term Care in Taiwan, 23(3), 217-230. https://doi.org/10.6317/LTC.201912_23(3).0005

Chang, P.-S., Chao, A. M., Jang, M., Knob, T., Oh, B., & Lu, Y. Y.-F. (2018). Intervention fidelity in Qigong randomized controlled trials: A method review. Journal of Geriatric Nursing, 40(1), 84-90. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gerinurse.2018.07.001

Brown E., Lu Y., Beaven, L., Hansen, K., Carvell, C., Hendrie, H., & Austrom, M. G., (2017). Engagement and quality of life in underrepresented older adults: A community-based participatory research project. Narrative Inquiry in Bioethics, 7(1), E7-E9.

Hood, S., Lu, Y., Jenkins, K., Brown, E., Beaven, J., Brown, S., Hendrie, H., & Austrom, M. G. (2018). Exploration of perceived psychological benefits of senior companion program participation among urban-dwelling, low-income older adult women volunteers, Journal of Innovations in Aging, 2(2), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1093/geroni/igy018

Ellis, J. L., Altenburger, P., & Lu, Y. (2017). Change in depression, confidence and physical function among older adults with mild cognitive impairment. Journal of Geriatric Physical Therapy. E1-E8. Oct. https://doi.org/10.1519/JPT.0000000000000143