PROVIDING CARE
Adult day care is one option for workers who also are caring for aging parents or other friends or family
According to the Family Caregiver Alliance, more than 1 in 6 Americans working full- or part-time also serve as caregivers for an elderly or disabled family member, friend or relative. However, only 56% of caregivers report that their work supervisor is aware of their caregiving responsibilities. What can employers do to change this statistic?
Serving as a full- or part-time caregiver impacts every aspect of the caregiver's life. Time spent with family is more constrained. Medical appointments can occupy the time that the caregiver might otherwise have used as vacation time. Finances are strained too, making steady work a necessity that feels especially tenuous. Caregivers can find themselves stretched in every direction. Employers who make it easy for caregivers to adjust their work life to meet the needs of their personal life are opening the door to a more productive, happier workforce.
What, specifically, can employers do to meet the needs of the caregivers they employ?
The good news is that technology has made workplace flexibility more feasible than ever before.
Telecommuting makes it possible for employees to participate in meetings and contribute to a larger team from anywhere in the world, including from a patient's bedside. More companies are allowing employees to work on a flexible schedule. Employees simply need to work a set number of hours each week. As long as those hours are worked within broader parameters set by the company, an employee can produce results while maintaining time for caregiving responsibilities.
Speaking of results, I like the idea of a results-based workplace, where the number of hours worked is irrelevant as long as the employee's goals are met. That's a system that rewards hustle — something caregivers are certainly prone to.
What's the broader impact of caregivers in the workforce? Why should employees care about this?
A 2011 Gallup survey found that caregiver absenteeism costs the U.S. economy an estimated $25.2 billion in lost productivity each year. Caregiving has been shown to reduce employee productivity and increase the likelihood of employees leaving the workplace. The impact on businesses and on the U.S. economy is enormous.
What is a great resource for caregivers?
Adult day care, like the services we provide at Daily Living Centers, is a great option for caregivers. Our notfor-profit centers provide a safe, interactive setting where elderly and disabled adults can stay during daytime hours while the caregiver works. We offer social interaction and activities geared towards health and wellness, nutritious meals, basic medical monitoring care and even hygiene services, and door-to-door transportation for the people who come to us.
This not only allows caregivers time to maintain employment, but it frees up family time after work hours.
Adult day care not only provides an option for caregivers to maintain employment, but is a low-cost alternative to long term care facilities which saves the state millions of dollars each year in health care costs. Unfortunately, the number of adult day centers like ours has dwindled over the past several years due to reduced state and federal funding. Given the positive economic impact of keeping caregivers in the workforce and the cost savings to state health care system, we are hopeful that state leaders might prioritize the families we serve with increased funding to adult day health care.