Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE)
Nukan Chen,
CEI Participant
Life on her own terms – painting and homemade dumplings For two years, Nukan Chen studied for her U.S. citizenship test by listening to tapes her daugh‐
ter had recorded for her in Taiwanese, Mandarin and English. She does not read or write Eng‐
lish and her spoken English and written Chinese are very limited, so she took the test orally in English and answered in Chinese. At age 74, she became an American citizen. Born to a fishing family in a Taiwanese village, she moved to a city when she married. She raised five children there and several came to the U.S. for college. She and her husband, a por‐
trait painter, followed them here 20 years ago. Her husband died nine years later and Mrs. Chen now lives alone in an apartment in El Cerrito, Contra Costa County. Her nearest daughter is “very busy” and Mrs. Chen doesn’t like to ask her for help with Dr. ap‐
pointments and errands, she says through CEI tri‐lingual interpreter King Yu. She is “grateful for CEI help with my diabetes and sore knee” and says she can talk to the medical staff about any problem and it’s resolved. She gets an acupuncture treatment during each twice‐weekly visit to the Berkeley Center and says this is gradually relieving her pain and improving mobility. CEI is “a very kind place…I feel good here,” she says with a big grin, adding that she is “very grateful to the U.S. government” for funding this program. Mrs. Chen points out several lovely framed watercolors on the Center walls – birds, flowers and Taiwan scenes she created from memory during Activity sessions at the Day Center. She also enjoys visiting with the other 10 Chinese participants. Interpreter Yu says that her Mandarin has improved since she started coming to the Center. Her first language is the Taiwanese dia‐
lect, but “I have to practice my Mandarin so I can win arguments here,” she laughs. Any argu‐
ments appear to be entirely good‐natured, however. Recently, Mrs. Chen invited three other participants to visit her apartment to help prepare a big batch of Chinese dumplings. On the following Tuesday, she brought them in to the Center on the CEI bus to share with the partici‐
pants and interpreters as their mid‐morning snack. Mr. Yu and several other interpreters provide the vital link between non‐English speaking par‐
ticipants and the CEI staff, making sure they understand each other. An interpreter accompa‐
nies her to the clinic and on outside appointments, giving her access she would have difficulty arranging by herself. With the coordinated services she gets from the CEI care team and her CEI
‐issued walker, Mrs. Chen is able to live on her own terms, which includes walking in her neighborhood, crochet projects and homemade dumplings.