Alumni Spotlight

Carrie Wendel-Hummell

Dr. Carrie Wendel-Hummell, who earned her PhD from the KU Sociology Department in 2015, was recently awarded the Suzanne and Harry Statland Award for Excellence in Research and Scholarship by the KU School of Social Welfare. Carrie co-directs the new Center for the Advancement of Healthcare for Everyone (CAHE) in the KU School of Social Welfare and has served as a Principal Investigator on over $4 million in grant funded projects. Her community-engaged research aims to inform policy and practice in aging and disability services. 

As a medical sociologist, Carrie’s areas of expertise are aging, disability, and long-term service and support systems, where she leads mixed-methods, community-based, applied research projects. Her Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) funded project on the impact of COVID-19 on Medicaid funded Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) highlighted the neglect of home care workers as an essential healthcare workforce. Research findings on the high uninsurance rates among this workforce were quoted by the Governor’s office in support of Medicaid expansion. 

Carrie works closely with the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services (KDADS) on program development and implementation projects. This included the creation of a new assessment system that will more fairly determine eligibility for over 25,000 Kansans applying for HCBS services annually and provide the state with trustworthy data for assessing program trends and policy needs. She is currently working with KDADS and community partners to develop a training and career ladder program for direct support workers (i.e., home care aides, personal care attendants). Driven by low-wages and demanding work, this predominately-female and disproportionately-minority workforce experiences high injury, burnout, and poverty rates, as well as a high rate of being uninsured. This project aims to improve wages, benefits, and opportunities for career advancement.