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Why Your Organization Should Care About Care

Why Your Organization Should Care About Care. Welcome. Moderator: Eileen Mendez, Director of HRI’s Work/Life Services

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Why Your Organization Should Care About Care

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  1. Why Your Organization Should Care About Care

  2. Welcome • Moderator: Eileen Mendez, Director of HRI’s Work/Life Services • Purpose: To demonstrate the business case for providing and promoting support services for employees who are caring for older adults and other family members—especially children—with special needs.

  3. Objectives • Outline the costs to businesses of employee caregiving • Highlight the tremendous knowledge gaps that exist around managing and paying for care • Identify how employer-sponsored benefits improve functioning at work by reducing the strain of caregiving • Describe how HRI can help you leverage and effectively promote existing employee benefits and resources

  4. Panelists Dan Fish, partner in the elder-law firm Daniel G. Fish, LLC Jamie Pagliaro, executive vice-president and co-creator of Rethink Autism Julie Rosenzweig, PhD, co-principal investigator on the Work-Life Integration for Families With Children and Adolescents Who Have Emotional or Behavioral Disorders Project at Portland State University Batsheva Schreiber, RN, founding president and CEO of CareManagers Inc.

  5. Impact of Caregiving on the US Workplace (1) • Nearly a third of the US population cares for a chronically ill, disabled, or aged family member or friend, and about 60% of these people are employed. • There are an estimated 40 million caregivers in the US workforce.(MetLife Mature Market Institute, 2006, The MetLife Caregiving Cost Study: Productivity Losses to U.S. Business)

  6. Impact of Caregiving on the US Workplace (2) • Nearly 17 million Americans are caring for children under age 18 with special needs, and just over half of these adults are employed. • An estimated 9% of US employees are caring for a child with special needs; many experts believe this percentage is higher.(National Alliance for Caregiving, Caregiving in the US, 2009)

  7. Impact of Caregiving on the US Workplace (3) • Nearly 55 million Americans care for an older adult loved one, and 42% of workers have provided care for an older adult in the last five years. (Families & Work Institute, National Study of the Changing Workforce, 2008) • Concerns about caregiving are within the top five reasons employees give for distractions during the workday.(Employee Benefit News, 2012) • Lost productivity occurs when employed caregivers are called away from work, must decrease their work hours, or leave the workforce altogether.

  8. Impact of Caregiving on the US Workplace (4) • Employers lose at least $34 billion annually in lost productivity from employees with elder care responsibilities. • Caregivers have higher rates of depression, anxiety, diabetes, hypertension, and unhealthy lifestyles. • Employers pay an additional 8% in health care costs for employees who provide elder care, resulting in $13.4 billion in higher health care costs. (MetLife Mature Market Institute and National Association of Caregivers, MetLife Caregiving Study: Productivity Losses to US Businesses, 2006; MetLife Study of Working Caregivers and Employer Healthcare Costs, 2010)

  9. Dan Fish: The Elder-Care Knowledge Gap (1) • “There are only four kinds of people in the world: those who have been caregivers, those who are caregivers, those who will be caregivers, and those who will need caregivers.” Rosalynn Carter • Employers are facing a tidal wave of Baby Boomers who are ill-equipped to understand the complexities of care and paying for care.

  10. Dan Fish: The Elder-Care Knowledge Gap (2) • Health insurance makes a distinction between “custodial” care and care provided by an MD or other professional with an advanced degree. • “Custodial” care is non-medical help with activities of daily living. • Costs $20/hour in NYC; $480/day • Medicare and “medigap” coverage for custodial care is very limited.

  11. Dan Fish: The Elder-Care Knowledge Gap (3) • Even well-educated people are often unaware that custodial care is not covered by most health insurance. • 77% of caregivers polled by the National Alliance for Caregiving said they need more help or information. (Caregiving in the US, 2009) • Caregivers are very distracted at work by care needs. • Employers gain tremendously from providing elder care guidance resources, which enhance productivity.

  12. Jamie Pagliaro: The Workplace Impact of Special-Needs Caregiving (1) • Increase in local school districts of children with special needs—make up 10%-15% of school population. • This is an indicator of the impact on your workforce.

  13. Jamie Pagliaro: The Workplace Impact of Special-Needs Caregiving (2) • Autism: 1970s rate was 1 in 5,000; now it’s 1 in 87, or over 1% of the population.(Centers for Disease Control, 2012) • Family caregivers spend 20-30 hours/week on caregiving, with those caring for children with special needs on the higher end of this average. (National Alliance for Caregiving & AARP, Caregiving in the US, 2009)

  14. Jamie Pagliaro: The Workplace Impact of Special-Needs Caregiving (3) • Advocacy and appointments need to be handled during work hours and time required affects productivity. • Navigating the maze of medical, social, and educational services is very challenging. • Figuring out who pays for what is very complicated, and many services are not covered by insurance.

  15. Jamie Pagliaro: The Workplace Impact of Special-Needs Caregiving (4) • 85% of those caring for a special-needs child need more help or information; even more than those caring for older adults. (National Alliance for Caregiving & AARP, Caregiving in the US, 2009) • 67% said they go online to find information related to their child’s care. (as above) • Internet findings hard to decipher; parents challenged to recognize valid vs. invalid information sources. • Employer-sponsored benefits that provide expert support and information are critical and time-saving.

  16. Batsheva Schreiber: Care Management (1) • Loved ones’ health or behavioral crises radically change employees’ focus. • Without understanding healthcare, social service, and insurance coverage, caregivers find it hard tomake decisions.

  17. Batsheva Schreiber: Care Management (2) • Care managers immediately assess needs and facilitate quick access to care. • Provide an independent, professional presence. • Allow employees to balance emotional and family-relationship issues of caregiving with work and productivity.

  18. Batsheva Schreiber: Care Management (3) • Employees more reluctant than ever to lose productivity or to be perceived as less than 100% engaged at work. • Confidentiality is critical for all benefits. • We reassure all employees we serve that no one at work will know they are using our services. • Most employers don’t provide care management, but they offer a valuable service by making employees aware of their work/life benefit. • W/L program informs employees about all care options, including locating qualified care managers.

  19. Batsheva Schreiber: Future of Caregiving (1) • Over the next 10 years, Baby Boomers will cause a 50% rise in the number of Americans over 65, a 50-year high for that age group. • Costs of health and custodial care continue to rise, and public resources are shrinking. • More workers are staying in the workforce past traditional retirement age and are increasingly motivated by financial obligations. • These trends will mean more caregivers in the workplace. MetLife Mature Market Institute, 2010: How America's Baby Boomers Will Transform Aging, Work & Retirement

  20. Batsheva Schreiber: Future of Caregiving (2) • A 2012 study by the Families and Work Institute showed that 49% of employed adults anticipate needing to provide elder care within the coming years. • Future impact of special-needs care for children: • Rates of the most common chronic conditions are on the rise, including attention deficit disorder, autism, mental and emotional illness, and asthma. (University of Michigan Health System, 2012) • Families are also increasingly affected financially.

  21. Julie Rosenzweig, PhD: Supporting Employees With Children and Youth With Special Needs (1) • Under-recognized population: parents of transition-age youth (ages 18-26) with special needs have particular challenges as these youth “age out” of many services. • Caregiving employees often experience disruptions to care. • Special-needs child care is very expensive and hard to find and maintain. • Three out of four parents with children with special needs have changed or quit work more than once because of caregiving responsibilities.

  22. Julie Rosenzweig, PhD: Supporting Employees With Children and Youth With Special Needs (2) • Fear of stigmatization makes these employees reluctant to disclose their caregiving status, especially in current economic climate. • Managers more likely to want to support and retain these employees once they understand exceptional care needs and prevalence of caregiving. Dg

  23. Julie Rosenzweig, PhD: Supporting Employees With Children and Youth With Special Needs (3) • Supporting caregiving employees is part of diversity. • Employers benefit when they can retain these workers, who contribute their enhanced skills in multitasking, problem solving, and time management. • The organization’s bottom-line benefits through employee commitment and retention. • Training manual and workbook: Children/Youth with Disabilities: Their Parents Are Your Employees, Work-Life Integration Project, Portland State University http://www.pathwaysrtc.pdx.edu/pdf/pbWorkLifeTrainingManual.pdf

  24. Julie Rosenzweig, PhD: Supporting Employees With Children and Youth With Special Needs (4) • Formal policies and informal practices are important. • Formal policies: FMLA, paid vacation and sick time, and flexible work arrangements. • Flexibility can include time off for appointments, part-time hours, and adjustable work arrangements. • Informal practices include coworker coverage and options to deal with emergency or episodic situations. • Policies must be communicated, implemented fairly, and the workplace culture must be supportive.

  25. How Your EAP and Work/Life Services Program Can Help • HRI’s Work/Life Program provides tailored research on resources that employees could not find—or at least not find efficiently—on their own. • The Employee Assistance Program, which is integrated with our Work/Life Services, provides confidential emotional support and guidance for coping with caregiving and family issues. • EAP and Work/Life Services act as a gateway for all the benefits your organization offers. • We are also an important resource for you as HR professionals.

  26. Q & A • How can I communicate about flexibility so that it’s fair for all employees?  • Julie Rosenzweig: Take some beginning steps. Employees often want you to be accessible and to offer supportive listening as well as brainstorming around problem solving. Flexibility may not always be the first step; it can be approached as a process. Communicating about flexibility to all employees helps keep the playing field even.

  27. Q & A • What kinds of special-needs services are usually covered by insurance? • Jamie Pagliaro: With regard to autism, there has been an insurance reform initiative over the last few years which has resulted in 31 states now having legislation related to mandating coverage or not excluding autism as a covered diagnosis. www.autismvotes.org has state-by-state information. Even where there is legislation, there may be many exclusions and your employees may not be covered.

  28. Simple Next Steps (1) • Schedule a consultation with your HRI account manager to discuss how to leverage EAP and Work/Life as a gateway to all your benefits and to create a holistic approach to supporting caregiving employees. • Are you getting the word out? Just because it’s a “free” service doesn’t mean it doesn’t need to be “sold.” • Your HRI account manager can help you plan and implement a strategic marketing campaign.

  29. Simple Next Steps (2) • Do a “care audit” of all the services that can support caregivers’ needs, including everything offered by your health plan and other providers. • Are the services being utilized? • Are you getting the most out of these benefits? • Establish formal or informal support or special-interest groups. • Schedule training seminars for managers and lunch-time seminars for employees via HRI.

  30. Thank you for joining us • You can listen to the audio recording of Why Your Organization Should Care About Care on the HRI website. • Log on, go to the Tools for Managers section, then click on Multimedia Learning Tools.

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