The challenges today’s workforce face have never been greater--healthcare, Covid-19, mental health, violence, finances, inflation, work, children, aging loved ones.Balancing these challenges, especially when caring for a loved one, is fraught with difficulties as workers try to navigate the complex worlds in which they live, learn, work, play, and worship.Often times their work productivity declines and their absenteeism increases.
Most of us have experienced these challenges or know people who have. We hear from our friends and colleagues. We see women, and men, leave the workforce because the precarious juggling act is too much. What can employers do to support employee caregivers, and in turn, increase their productivity and decrease costs to their organization?
This month’s newsletter continues to highlight some of the poor health and well-being outcomes seen when family caregivers don’t get the support they need at work and what an employer can do to mitigate these bad outcomes.
The first article, Supporting Employees with Caregiving Responsibilities, highlights the benefits employers can provide to workers who are also family caregivers and are experiencing significant stress and anxiety (e.g., mental strain, physical strain, financial strain). It also provides statistics on the impact on an employer that doesn’t have a caregiver program.
The second article Employer’s Guide to Supporting Employees with Caregiving Responsibilities adds to the information provided in the first article.Taken together they provide a very good overview of employer-provided support for family caregivers.The authors highlight ways employers can support employees who are caregivers.
The third article highlights the continued impact of COVID-19 mentally, and on the need for even more caregivers. It also explores the impact the mental toll on employees has on employers.Unfortunately, the pandemic continues with additional surges in our future.
The article links to a mental health-oriented podcast from Alexandra Drane, co-founder and CEO of the national caregivers platform ARCHANGELS and links to data about caregivers collected by ARCHANGELS that you
may find eye opening. Definitely worth a listen to the podcast.
The fourth article, from the Alzheimer’s Association and SAGE, is an issue brief on LGBT and Dementia.The 19 page brief includes information about the history of LGBT in the United States and highlights the unique challenges and opportunities to improveoutcomes for those with dementia in the LGBT community.Areas addressed include LGBT aging issues; legal issues; caregiving; stigma; social isolation; poverty; health disparities; sexuality and gender expression; aging networks/service utilization; HIV/AIDS and dementia: and recommendations.
As always, we welcome your input on our newsletter and your organization's needs.
In good health,
Neal Kaufman, M.D., M.P.H. Founder & Chairman of the Board, Canary Health®
Article by MacKenzie Farkus, Podcast by Alexandra Drane, Boston Public Radio
Unpaid caregivers are most likely to be young and employed, according to data collected by ARCHANGELS in 2021. As they return to the office, there's often not an infrastructure that exists to support them at work, and their mental health suffers.
"In the end, if support is not provided, people end up in the ER; they end up having to quit their jobs; they end up in very, very, very hard situations financially," Drane continued. "And so the argument is, if you can do something preventively to keep someone from coming into [the role of an unpaid caregiver], obviously, that's going to be a win-win. The challenge is right now, these resources are not being made available."
LGBT older people exhibit several health disparities which increase the risk of developing Alzheimer’s and other dementias. When they receive a dementia diagnosis, they face a particularly challenging set of circumstances.
LGBT older adults are also more likely to exhibit particular vulnerabilities that can exacerbate how Alzheimer’s disease
manifests and its impact, such as disproportionately high levels of social isolation and stigmatization as they age, making it difficult to find support.LGBT-identified caregivers face similar challenges.
Rural Dementia Caregiver Study We are proud to be partnering with UCSF to deliver Building Better Caregivers® workshops as part of a NIH sponsored research study (Rural Dementia Caregiver Study). If you serve caregivers in rural communities, please help spread the word about this important study. We are still looking for more participants. Learn more about the study here.
