Who Are The Caregivers?

The Elephant Gets Out Of The Closet

Caregivers are often thrust into service without warning or preparation. Why?

• 76 percent of families have never discussed elder issues;

• 70 percent of adult children have never asked about their parents wishes;

• Half of adult children have given no thought to caring for their parents.

Attention to these problems is deferred until there is an urgent need. Inevitably, there is. It could be called the “family elder crisis event”. It might begin with a call by or about an elder in distress. Or, it could happen when the family gathers at Thanksgiving. Something is not right with Granny or Gramps.

It’s like an elephant that has been hiding in the closet. It’s escaped and is standing in the living room. It cannot be ignored. It will not be delayed. You have to deal with it! The caregiver’s life and work are turned upside down. How can you identify it? What can you do to help solve it?

Who Are The Caregivers?

With their huge numbers, the baby boomer generation has impacted every stage of life. Now, they are affecting healthcare. But, they are also having a major effect providing living assistance for their aging parents. What is the profile of these care providers? According to the US Department of Health and Human Services,

• More than 50 million people provide care for an aged family member in any year;

• They are estimated at about 13 percent of the workforce;

• Those providing assistance are projected to increase 2.3 percent per year.

Most care providers seek to remain anonymous out of concern for family privacy and for their job security.

Typically, caregivers are 56 percent women and 44 percent men, ranging from 40 to 70 years old.

• 15 percent are ages 45 to 54;

• 27 percent are ages 55 to 65;

• 30 percent are over 65.

What Are The Effects On Care Providers?

The typical caregiver provides 20.6 hours of services per week. 17 percent provide more than 40 hours of weekly service. On average, they provide assistance for about four and a half years. They are initially 60 percent employed or have a professional career, but they suffer professionally, financially and physically.

Professionally:

• 69 percent have work disruptions;

• 40 percent must revise work schedules;

• 20 percent are forced to change from full time to part time work;

• 16 percent have to quit their jobs;

• 13 percent must retire early.

Financially:

• Out of pocket medical expenses are more than seven percent greater;

• Median incomes fall more than 15 percent lower than normal.

Physically:

• Depression symptoms are twice as high for those caring for parents;

• Depression symptoms are six times as high if caring for a spouse;

• Immunity systems of care providers are more likely to decline;

• Caregivers have a 63 percent higher mortality rate than normal.

What Are The Impacts On Employers?

Employees assisting family elders can disrupt an employer’s productivity and increase costs. Such disruptions are magnified by the fact that most care providers are the senior, more experienced and more valued employees. About 80 percent of them are distracted in their work schedule:

• Arriving late.

• Leaving early.

• Attending to care matters during the workday.

Employers incur high costs to recruit and train replacements for care givers who are forced to retire early, quit or elect part time status. The MetLife Caregiving Cost study projects that American businesses lose $34 Billion each year due to family care distractions.

To bring this down to ground level, if averaged against the 50 million care providers per year, it amounts to $680 each per year. You could multiply this times 13 percent of your workforce (typical percentage of workforce who provide family care) to get a benchmark for employer cost.

Employee care giving is a major healthcare problem that is under the radar for most employers. Many caregiver employees seek to remain anonymous. They fear that the workplace distractions caused by their family care duties will jeopardize their jobs. Only two percent of employed caregivers actually take advantage of assistance and benefits their employers offer. This is a huge disconnect.

What Are Solutions To The Caregiver Problems?

No one who has family elders is immune from coming face to face with that elephant in the living room. You are engulfed by the family crisis event. A family elder is in need. There is no one else to provide the care and attention that the elder requires. Most caregivers feel that they have no other choice.

They may not want to do it. But, they feel they must do their duty, must honor their elders. This is the right thing to do, but it is a life-changing event for both. The elder loses independence. The caregiver loses lifestyle, income and maybe career.

This family crisis event is a growing problem. It could affect any of us, directly or indirectly. We can’t ignore it. We can’t hide it. We need to recognize it and deal with it the best we can.

For employers, two solutions are worthy.

First, eliminate the fear of job loss that drives most employees to try to keep their care giving status secret. Establish and publicize a company policy on caregiver employees. An employer’s primary objective, the survival of the business, can not be sacrificed.

But, employees count, too. Avoid losing an important long time employee over a temporary problem. Let them know you value them. Help them through their family crisis with workplace support and flexibility.

Second, offer or supplement access to low-cost healthcare advisory, assistance and advocacy services. That is the Patient Care Plan. Its services can be used for employees and extended to employee family members. Such services help employees better manage their family healthcare affairs. They also help employees avoid or minimize the work place and work time distractions of caregiving.

For information on healthcare advocacy services, go to Patient Care Plan.

For information on elder care advocacy services, go to Elder Care Plan.

For information on preventive solutions for healthcare, go to Preventive Health.

For information on fitness solutions for healthcare, go to Fitness Culture.

For other information or questions, go to our Contact Us page.