Care Giver Support: An Employee Benefit? | Advocate On Aging

Posted on August 15th, 2013

Categories: Aging Advocacy,Caring For Elderly,Gerontology,Healthcare Advocacy,Helping Seniors,Resources,Senior Care Management

I have spent the last 20 years championing the cause of employer sponsored care giver support.? There are some resources available to care givers who work outside the home in addition to providing care for disabled or elderly family members.?? However, these tend not to be coordinated efforts.? Two that come to mind are the Family and Medical Leave Act and Employee Assistance Programs (EAP).

The Family and Medical Leave Act:

• Allows for workers to take up to 12 unpaid weeks of leave to provide care for certain family members with serious health conditions
• Includes spouses and parents in the definition of ?family?
• Does not cover all workers
• Applies only to employers having 50 or more employees
• Dictates that employees must be employed for at least 12 months and
• Have worked 1250 hours within that 12 months

Employee Assistance Programs:

• Offered by many employers (not all)
• Provide short term mental health counseling
• Intent is to help employees manage problems that interfere with work performance
• Make referrals for employee for long term support

While certainly not comprehensive, these are important programs for employees to be aware of when needing help caring for elderly loved ones!

The needs of frail seniors are very unique.? Many beleaguered care givers don?t even know where to start to find help and support.? Worse yet, the responsibility and worry over caring for your senior can diminish your own health and takes time from your work.? And the statistics of those providing care to others is staggering.

According to IHL Generations, a non-profit organization that supports independence at home as well as positive aging:

• Over 98 percent of Americans over age 70 want to live independently in their own home
• 1 of every 4 American adults is now a caregiver
• 1 of every 5 working Americans is a caregiver
• Caregivers spend an average of close to $6000 per year of their own money providing care
• 70 percent of working care givers report that care giving impacts their work
• 78 percent of care givers report that they need more help, information and support

With the US population aging there will be fewer care givers to support more needs.? This will have a profound impact on the productivity of the American work force.? As a care giver myself, I also feel the tug of meeting my loved ones? needs while performing my job duties at the high level I expect.

I have long thought the way to meet the care needs of our elders while maintaining productivity at work, is for employers to sponsor care giver support as an employee benefit.? Just having guidance and the appropriate referral to needed resources saves time, anguish, and dollars for care givers as well as employers.

Caregiver.org has studied this problem and has published a study entitled ?Best Practices in Workplace Eldercare?.? The study supports employer participation in the provision of elder care supports as a benefit offered in the workplace.

As a Geriatric Care Manager, I think this benefit is critical now more than ever, and the need will only increase in the next 20 years.

Like a dog with a bone, I won?t leg go of this cause.? It is critical.? It is necessary.? It is cost effective.? And it is the right thing to do!

?

?

?

?

Source: http://advocateonaging.com/care-giver-support-an-employee-benefit/

april fools day 2012 ja rule amityville horror acm passover recipes 2012 kids choice awards kansas ohio state