When it came time for Katie Whipple to do her internship, she knew what kind of work she wanted to do.

Whipple, a senior at Brigham Young University majoring in family, home and human development with a minor in gerontology, chose to do an unpaid internship with Applegate Homecare and Hospice because of a personal experience with her grandmother who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.

“I came home from school and her Alzheimer’s was getting worse,” Whipple said. “I became one of her caretakers when she moved in with us. We got a hospice team to come and help and I was so impressed with them. It helped us not only through the grieving process but helped her keep her dignity.”
                       
Applegate is a facility that allows dying patients to spend their last days in the comfort of home by providing nursing, therapy and—most of all—comfort.

“I did a lot of things with my patients,” Whipple said. “I mostly did a lot of caregiver relief. I did everything from watching movies to reading books, talking and playing games. With one lady I watched the BYU devotional every Tuesday. It’s more fun than a job.”

In addition to helping her patients, Whipple said she helped herself.

“For me on a personal level, it was a type of therapy,” Whipple said, “A way of dealing with my grandmother’s death. I had a few regrets and this was my way of giving back.”

Whipple’s average patient is about 80 years old, but her patients’ ages have ranged from low sixties to 102 years old. After growing close to her patients, she learned from their valuable life experiences.

“The relationships I gained and the things I learned are priceless,” Whipple said. “The stories I learned from their lives, the examples they gave me of how to live, that was enough. The friendships were priceless. They were such amazing people and it was such an honor to be able to be a part of the last stages of their lives.”

Her experience also gave Whipple a healthy attitude towards death.

“I think everyone should have to deal with this,” Whipple said. “The world today tends to push death away, but people need to deal with it. It can be a positive or negative experience—it just depends on how you look at it.”

Though Whipple did not spend her summer in the typical college student manner, she loved the time spent with her patients.

“It was the best experience I had in a long time,” she said. “It was a great summer.”