The Future Leaders Awards program is brought to you in partnership with Homecare Homebase. The program is designed to recognize up-and-coming industry members who are shaping the next decade of home health, hospice care, senior housing, skilled nursing, and behavioral health. To see this year’s Future Leaders, visit https://futureleaders.agingmedia.com/.
Kylee Bradshaw, the director of operations at the Bloomington, Indiana Office of Village Caregiving, has been named a 2024 Future Leader by Home Health Care News.
To become a Future Leader, an individual is nominated by their peers. The candidate must be a high-performing employee who is 40 years old or younger, a passionate worker who knows how to put vision into action, and an advocate for seniors, and the committed professionals who ensure their wellbeing.
Bradshaw sat down with Home Health Care News to talk about training caregivers, and why home-based care needs to become more accessible.
What drew you to this industry?
I come from a long line of health care professionals. As I was growing up, my aunt would bring home supplies from nursing school. Playing around with them and watching her grow in her career inspired me to become a health care professional as well.
What’s your biggest lesson learned since starting to work in this industry?
I’d say the biggest lesson I’ve learned since starting to work in the industry is that working in a health field does not mean that we’re only performing hands-on patient care.
There is a lot of training and coordination, along with administrative tasks, that accompany our jobs in the home care profession. As director of operations for Village Caregiving’s Bloomington office, I get the opportunity to assist in training new aides and caregivers, as well as knowing that I have full confidence that the caregivers leaving our office will do as good of a job as I would, or better.
If you could change one thing with an eye toward the future of home health or home care, what would it be?
Looking towards the future of home care, I want to help make it more accessible. So many people are not able to get the home care that they need, whether that’s due to insurance types or not being able to pay the private-pay amounts required.
What do you foresee as being different about the home health or home care industry looking ahead to 2025?
I see it being more technologically advanced. There are some “kinks in the line” with electronically clocking in/out, for example, and some other connectivity issues. But I can see this being remedied over the next year, so that internet or cell phone service isn’t a major challenge.
In a word, how would you describe the future of home health or home care?
Hopeful.
If you could give advice to yourself looking back to your first day in the industry, what would it be and why?
Believe in yourself more and believe that you deserve what has come your way.
To learn more about the Future Leaders program, visit https://futureleaders.agingmedia.com/.
