About the SeniorAdvisor.com 2014 In-Home Innovation Scholarship: We started the scholarship program to bring awareness of the unique benefits and challenges of in-home caregiving for seniors to younger generations. The questions posed by the scholarship encouraged our nation’s future caregivers to present solutions for improving home care in the United States. College-aged students were required to answer one of the three essay topics below and provide a short bio as part of their scholarship application. Read the winning essays here.

How can your major of study improve the lives of seniors receiving in-home care services?

Essay response by Kelcee Wimbleduff

The primary goal of anyone in a health related field, from the corporate administration to human interaction, is to serve and help others.  I have had first-hand experience with intimate human treatment in a healthcare setting, as my grandmother experienced unfair care during my adolescent years. Observing that situation inspired me to always prioritize quality of life over any financial circumstance. This is the reason why applying for this scholarship is ultimately important to me.

What interests me most in being a healthcare professional is bettering the lives of others. What I plan on providing to a health administration program is consistency, reliability and the tireless work ethics to make sure people are in the right place to best serve patients who are in need. Because of my experience with patients not receiving the care that they so rightfully deserve I will be consistent in my efforts to always put their needs as my first priority and will make sure that my colleagues and subordinates are trained to administer these practices.  Reliability for me is synonymous with integrity. It means that I will be a woman of my word to both those who are working with me and those who I am serving. If a patient has a problem, I will be there to assist them to the best of my abilities and if I do not know the answer to their particular problem or issue I will do the adequate research to find out what is the necessary protocol to their situation. Having a tireless work ethic means that I will not stop until my job is completed with due diligence and superlative satisfaction.

Normally, when patients are receiving poor health care services, the problem seems to lean towards the staffing of the institution. The solution to this problem requires particular concentration on staffing the correct individuals to fill key positions that will inevitably build moral and enhance the patient experience. Using my background in internship and public relations, I feel that after staffing is reorganized and the correct accountability is given to the qualified individuals, then the quality the seniors receiving in-home care services will improve and patient satisfaction will increase as long as these practices are being implemented on a daily basis.

My major of study is important to the improvement of in-home care for senior citizens because overall it will be up to myself to provide them with the staff that I feel are the most qualified in distributing these individuals with the best care as far as their efficiency, compassion and passion for the patients in which they come into contact with. Staffing is the most important factor when discussing the efficiency of patient care and timely appointments. Through personal experience, I have witnessed way too many elderly patients being mistreated while receiving healthcare services. Therefore I feel as if it will be up to me and the Degree in which I am obtaining to help work towards the innovation of improving the lives and health care practices these patients are receiving.

About Kelcee

Kelcee is pursuing a Bachelors in Health Science, focusing on Health and Business Administration.