Draft:Kiplee Bell Morris

Kiplee Bell Morris is an American clinician and medical lecturer. She is a personal and professional caregiver advocating for caregivers, older adults and brain cancer patients and their families. She is the founder and CEO of the Kevin John McAleese Memorial Foundation and Impactful Caregiving and is the Miss Philadelphia 1998 beauty pageant titleholder.

Early life and education
Kiplee Bell Morris' initial exposure to caregiving was through her mother, Gloria Bell, a private nurse, trained in Antigua and London, who cared for elderly and homebound patients. Summers spent in Antigua caring for her grandmother provided the foundation for developing the skills Morris would carry into her profession. She provides care for her mother who suffers from Vascular dementia.

She is a graduate of Burlington Life Center Academy. During college, she volunteered in homes for senior citizens and ran an adopt-a-grandparent program while aspiring to become a specialist in geriatric medicine.

Morris earned board certification as a physician assistant, a master’s degree in gerontology, and her Doctorate in Medicine. Her training and degrees are from The College of New Jersey, St. Joseph’s University, Drexel College of Medicine, and the International University of the Health Sciences.

Career
Morris has experience as a clinician focused on the subspecialties of rheumatology and emergency medicine. She has worked in acute care, urgent care, ambulatory care, and long-term care environments. Since 2002, Morris has lectured at various conferences and universities on arthritis, rheumatologic disorders, geriatrics, and business leadership while also contributing to several webinars and DVDs in the geriatric and pharmacologic spaces. She has been an advisor and consultant to pharmaceutical companies, healthcare certification providers and universities.

In 2010, Kevin J. McAleese, former Executive Director of the Miss Philadelphia organization, was diagnosed with Glioblastoma Multiforme. Morris became his medical proxy. McAleese died on February 13, 2013.

In 2013, Morris founded the Kevin John McAleese Memorial Foundation as a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. The mission is to provide financial support to those affected by Glioblastoma, both patients and families, in ways that honor McAleese's legacy. The KJM Foundation donates funding to a namesake patient and family respite center at University of Pennsylvania Abramson Cancer Center’s Glioblastoma Center of Excellence, awards research grants to find a cure for Glioblastoma and provides patient-family financial assistance. Contributions from their fundraising galas allow the Kevin John McAleese Foundation to award higher education scholarships.

Morris started Impactful Caregiving as an educational platform and consultation company to tackle the most common challenges around caregiving. Teepa Snow interviewed Morris on January 10, 2022 on the non-pharmacologic approaches to the care of the dementia patient on her Teepa for Ten series on Facebook.

On August 2, 2022, Morris launched her CAREPOD podcast with Teepa Snow as her inaugural guest. The podcast discusses a range of topics on caregiving and aging successfully. Morris interviews thought leaders, caregivers and people who have shown resilience in their own caregiver journey or an ability to help other caregivers.

Pageants
Years after becoming the 6th Little Miss America Princess at the age of 7, Morris was crowned Miss Burlington County in 1997, won the Miss Philadelphia 1998 pageant and went on to place 2nd at Miss Pennsylvania.

To win Miss Burlington County, she sang "Forever Young" by Diana Ross and during the interview session responded to the practices and opinions of Jack Kevorkian. "I Believe" was her song selection for the talent performance to win Miss Philadelphia. At the 1998 Miss Pennsylvania competition, her platform was "ASAP: Aging Serves a Purpose" and her talent remained vocal presentation. Of 24 contestants, she was the community service award winner, talent winner with "I Believe" and eventual first runner up behind Miss Pennsylvania winner Mayra Maria Acosta. Morris sits on the Miss Philadelphia organization’s Board of Directors.

Performing
Morris is a member of SAG-AFTRA and AEA. She has worked in print and fashion modeling, musical theater, film and television as well as audiobooks narration and singing engagements. In one of her favorite roles, she played an orphan in a 1985 production of Annie.

Personal life
Morris met her husband on a film set in Philadelphia and is mother of two boys.

Selected publications

 * Polypharmacy and Delirium: Impaired Mobility for the Geriatric Patient 
 * New Standards of Geriatric Care: Geropharmacology, Dementia Treatments, Challenging Behaviors & Emergency Interventions 
 * Intentional Caregiving – Revisiting the Psycho-Social Assessment 
 * Geriatric Patients: Beers Criteria Updates and Red Flags 
 * Geriatric Pharmacology: Practical Application Through Patient Cases
 * Communicating synovial pseudocyst in small joint of the hand assessed by ultrasound (2013) 
 * Bisphosphonates for Osteoporosis - A closer look at efficacy and safety (2007)
 * A closer look at EULAR guidelines for OA in the hand (2007)
 * Identifying and treating OA Hip Pain (2006)
 * What you should know about Arthritis and Co-Morbidities: Case Review (2005)