Employers, Support Working Caregivers to Help Your Business

According to AARP, currently 61% of family caregivers work full-time or part-time. What’s even more surprising is that 19% of retirees stopped working because of their caregiving responsibilities, and an incredibly 68% have had to make work-place accommodations as a result of their caregiving responsibilities.

These figures are incredible. Furthermore, businesses will be affected because this figure is growing every single day. This is going to negatively impact businesses if they’re not prepared, and, at the same time, this is an incredible opportunity for employers to prove to their employees that their dedicated to their well-being. Employers can support their caregiver employers in multiple ways. Here are some suggestions for employers, from most basic to most comprehensive:

1. Employers should talk to their employees and try to understand what they’re going through. They should encourage them to communicate what is going on in their life with upper management and their immediate supervisors.

2. As much as their position allows, employers should strive to be flexible in scheduling. It’s important to understand that, for caregivers, a 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. job won’t allow them to meet some of their caregiving responsibilities and will add stress.

 3. If employers know of multiple working caregivers within their organization, they can encourage any caregiver employees to talk to each other, as they both may have resources that will be beneficial to the other one.

 4. If their caregiving responsibilities become too intense, employers can encourage them to explore their options within the company, such as FMLA.

The best option for a company is to find an outside eldercare expert to provide support and guidance to their employees. Employers should consider adopting an elder care support program, such as WeCare+. This option allows the company to support the individuals while realizing they may not have all of the tools able to support the individuals.

All of these are a step in the right direction, and will allow caregiver employees to continue working and to continue to provide support for their ailing or aging loved one. You can learn more about our program here.

Mental Health in the Elderly

This past week, the New York Times wrote a piece on mental health in the elderly titled “How Therapy Can Help in the Golden Years.” It’s a great piece because it serves as a reminder of how important mental health is in the elderly, and how it’s even more important to receive treatment for any mental health issues that develop. As the elderly age, they can experience things such as depression, anxiety and feelings of loneliness. There is a lot of change that happens, and it’s incredibly difficult to watch many of your friends and family pass away or become ill. However, that is why it’s so important for the elderly to receive treatment for any possible issues.

For caregivers, paying attention to the mental health of your aging loved one is very important. Here are some things that may signal a change in the mental health of your loved one:

- Sadness
- Fatigue
- Anxiety
- Difficulty with sleeping
- A general loss of interest

If you see these symptoms in your elderly loved one, it may be a good idea to consider talking about therapy with them. Therapy can be incredibly beneficial to the elderly and it can help them to adjust to the different changes that are going on in their life. You can find the New York Times article here. It’s a wonderful piece that details how several elderly individuals lives were markedly improved by psychiatric treatment.

 Lastly, the most important thing is to consult your physician immediately if you notice any changes in your elderly loved ones.

Boston Marathon Weekend: The Importance of Walking for the Elderly

This Monday, the Boston Marathon runners will be running right by our office in Natick, Massachusetts. It’s incredible to see so many people committed to personal fitness. It also serves as a great reminder of just how important it is to stay active.

For the elderly, staying active is incredibly important. It’s incredibly important to stay active as a preventative measure, but it also has immediate health benefits. For most elderly individuals, running is too high intensity, but a new study published in Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology has shown that walkers receive the same health benefits as runners. This is great news for the elderly because walking is an incredibly low impact activity. Additionally, it is a great way to get the elderly outside, which provides another set of health benefits.

The study compared walking to running, and found that they both had about the same impact on health. Here’s what they found:

• Walkers were also 12.3% less likely to be diagnosed with diabetes

• Walking also helped to reduce heart disease risk by 9%

Walking has numerous other benefits that weren’t covered in the study, but have been researched before. According to the American Heart Association, walking is associated with the following:

• Improved blood pressure levels
• Reduced risk of coronary heart disease
• Lower risk of obesity
• Reduced risk of osteoporosis
• Reduced risk of breast and colon cancer
• Reduced risk of type II diabetes
• It reduces ‘bad’ cholesterol and increases ‘good’ cholesterol
• Improves mood and reduces fatigue

With all of this information, it’s impossible to find an excuse not to walk. Additionally, it’s a great excuse to enjoy this nice weather. So, this weekend be sure to get outside and take a walk!