Is your company reducing productivity and increasing health costs?
In a study conducted by the AARP in conjunction with the National Alliance for Caregiving, find that the number of employed family caregivers has increased significantly since 2015. (AARP, 2020) Much of the research surrounding this increase returns results that show increased stress levels among employees acting as family caregivers, and reduced workplace productivity. Increased levels of toxic stress cause long-term adverse health conditions.
Other than caring for the health and wellbeing of your employees, why should employers care? On the first point regarding an increased number of working family caregivers, the AARP study found that over 17% or approximately 42 million Americans are working adults acting as family caregivers for older adults. (AARP, 2020)
According to the report:
89% Caregivers of adults care for a relative
50% care for a parent or parent-in-law
12% care for a spouse or partner (12 percent),
8% care for a grandparent or grandparent-in-law
6% care for an adult child
10% provide care to a friend or neighbor
40% of employed caregivers live with the person receiving their care, a significant increase from the 34% in 2015.
74% of caregivers aged 75 and older are caring from someone their own age or older (AARP, 2020)
What this means is that staff members are actively splitting their brains between multiple worlds, spending on average 3 hours a day on their caregiving responsibilities to average approximately 24 hours each week. (NAC, 2016) This mental time spent is a lost opportunity cost for employers as not only does this affect the productivity of the individual employee, but means other staff members need to compensate for their mental or physical absence.
On the second point, we understand that toxic stress, defined by an overload of stimulus on cognitive ability, results in a slew of health conditions such as hypertension, heart conditions, depression and anxiety, just to name a few. (NIH, 2014) It interferes with an employee's ability to focus on tasks at hand, and also will mean when they seek medical care for these conditions, often requiring medication and other therapeutics,impacting the healthcare spending for the employer. Their need for increased healthcare will mean your plan prices increase.
How can employers combat this loss in productivity and increased healthcare cost? There’s a range of employee wellness programs that accommodate family caregivers, as well as coaching managers and directors of the realities their staff face. One tangible and immediate resource is to connect employees with resources that can support and alleviate their caregiving stressors. One such service is providing access to a caregiver support network, specifically those that provide education on available services. One such service is on Medicare enrollment and guidance, to make sure their loved ones have the healthcare they need, reduce their caregivers’ out of pocket coverage of health expenses, and can connect the beneficiary with additional community-based health services that will alleviate their ‘to do’ list. Medicare causes people immense stress, as one of the number one causes of stress and anxiety for people is how to afford healthcare costs. If your staff members are in this demographic, organizations like Doctor’s Choice that provide Medicare education and guidance can be key to alleviating this stress.
If you would like to investigate how you can help employees doubling as caregivers, contact Doctor’s Choice for a proposal. We will work with your organization to find a solution to best fit your needs and the needs of your employees. Providing these services will show that as an employer you’re aware of the stressors affecting staff members, and in turn, increasing productivity, loyalty and buy-in of your employees.
Request a proposal today! We look forward to helping you.
Sources:
Caregiver statistics: Demographics. (2016). Retrieved April 02, 2021, from https://www.caregiver.org/resource/caregiver-statistics-demographics/
Longacre, M., Valdmanis, V., Handorf, E., & Fang, C. (2017, May 1). Work impact and emotional stress among informal caregivers for older adults. Retrieved April 01, 2021, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5926991/
2020 Report Caregiving in the U.S. - AARP. (2020, May). Retrieved April 2, 2021, from https://www.aarp.org/content/dam/aarp/ppi/2020/05/full-report-caregiving-in-the-united-states.doi.10.26419-2Fppi.00103.001.pdf