Here at Long Term Solutions, we support caregivers and we are caregivers. Many LTS employees are the primary caregivers for an ailing or aging loved one. They have first-hand experience with caregiving, and know what about the different emotions involved with caregiving.They've experienced the joys that come with caregiving, and they've also endured the hardships. Meet four of our employees below. Click on their names to read their full stories.
Click here to meet Brenda.
"What I really love about working on the administrative side of Long Term Solutions is that at the end of the day I know the work we do is helping someone," explained Brenda. "At the other end of the phone or on the other end of the assessment is someone who we’re helping. There’s a person behind every claim number."
Caregiving is something Brenda has been doing full-time since 2000, and, because of this, she is really able to relate to the adult caregivers she talks to on the phone every day.'"
Click here to meet Karen.
"The greatest joy is watching him smile, when he smiles," said Karen about her father-in-law. "I tell my husband – I just live for that."
Laughter is one thing about caregiving that brings joy to Karen. Another is taking her father-in-law out to eat fried clams at Red Wing Diner just down the street from her house. The third is having conversations with him.
Click here to meet Debbie.
"Where’s the nurse?" demanded a young and visibly stressed doctor.
Debbie was in a hospital room with her mother and two other nurses. Her mother had developed the flu and pneumonia simultaneously, and they were at the ER for the second time.
"No, where’s the nurse? The family member who is a nurse," he insisted.
The nurses looked at each other, confused. Debbie was the nurse he was referring to, but she remained silent.
Click here to meet Nancy.
"She was just sobbing. She walked down the hall of her nursing home and told every nurse and patient ‘my husband has died… did you know my husband died?'" remembers Nancy.
Nancy and her brother had just told their mother that their father and her husband had died. Nancy's mother had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease five years ago, and her husband had been the primary caregiver for almost four years. But in September 2011 he fell ill and within four months Nancy lost him to renal failure.
Showing posts with label caregiver employees. Show all posts
Showing posts with label caregiver employees. Show all posts
Friday, September 27, 2013
Friday, April 26, 2013
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.
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.
Friday, February 22, 2013
How Does WeCare+ Help?
Mr. Bob is an 85-year-old male who is the primary caregiver for his spouse Mrs. Bob. She was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease. However, the disease began much earlier and progressed very quickly. Within three years he was spending his entire day caring for her. Mr. Bob does this with little or no help, as their children are all out of state and can only offer assistance during the holidays. Also, as with many Alzheimer’s and Dementia patients, most of their friends stopped coming around.
Fortunately, Mr. Bob’s financial advisor was knowledgeable about elder care issues, and he recommended WeCare+. That is where Long Term Solutions stepped in. After an initial in home assessment, Long Term Solutions clinician Sue called Mr. Bob. First, they addressed the activities of daily living. Could she dress herself? Was she able to use the toilet independently? What about independent activities – could she use the phone? These are the types of question Bobby Sue and Mr. Bob worked through. Next, they determined what adaptive equipment would help Mr. Bob properly care for Mrs. Bob. Finally, they discussed safety issues, such as wandering. Mrs. Bob had just started wandering, and recently had been turning on the stove. Sue had many suggestions, from a new lock on the door, GPS transmitting sneakers, to removing the knobs on the stove. They developed a plan to ensure the safety of Mrs. Bob, and then Sue focused on the well fare of Mr. Bob.
With the duties of primary caregiver entirely on the spouse, there is always concern for caregiver burden. Caregiver stress is a multi-dimensional issue, with physical, emotional and intellectual components. Frequently, caregivers don’t realize that caregiver burden and stress is even an issue. Mr. Bob admitted he was having a tough time dealing with the guilt about some of the feelings of anger and frustration he was experiencing while caring for Mrs. Bob.
There is a lot of fear and confusion involved, as there is so little known about the disease. There’s also a lot of confusion. Mr. Bob and his wife were always focused on nutrition, health, and exercise, so why did this disease had affect them? There’s a lot of anger. Mr. Bob sees studies about Alzheimer’s Disease, possible causes, possible treatments, but he knows none of them will help his wife. There’s also resentment. What happened to his freedom? They used to be so involved in their community, but now they spend their days together alone in the house.
Sue suggested that with this level of dementia Mr. Bob should consider 24 hour care. He was hesitant, so she suggested he would benefit from having a home health for aide at least 4-5 hours, 7 days a week. That way, the aide can foster a relationship and develop trust with Mrs. Bob, and Mr. Bob can decide whether or not he is comfortable with it. Either way, it would free up some time for him during the day.
Sue let Mr. Bob know that he was welcome to call her anytime with any new concerns, and she provided him with community resources for caregivers, like himself.
Fortunately, Mr. Bob’s financial advisor was knowledgeable about elder care issues, and he recommended WeCare+. That is where Long Term Solutions stepped in. After an initial in home assessment, Long Term Solutions clinician Sue called Mr. Bob. First, they addressed the activities of daily living. Could she dress herself? Was she able to use the toilet independently? What about independent activities – could she use the phone? These are the types of question Bobby Sue and Mr. Bob worked through. Next, they determined what adaptive equipment would help Mr. Bob properly care for Mrs. Bob. Finally, they discussed safety issues, such as wandering. Mrs. Bob had just started wandering, and recently had been turning on the stove. Sue had many suggestions, from a new lock on the door, GPS transmitting sneakers, to removing the knobs on the stove. They developed a plan to ensure the safety of Mrs. Bob, and then Sue focused on the well fare of Mr. Bob.
With the duties of primary caregiver entirely on the spouse, there is always concern for caregiver burden. Caregiver stress is a multi-dimensional issue, with physical, emotional and intellectual components. Frequently, caregivers don’t realize that caregiver burden and stress is even an issue. Mr. Bob admitted he was having a tough time dealing with the guilt about some of the feelings of anger and frustration he was experiencing while caring for Mrs. Bob.
There is a lot of fear and confusion involved, as there is so little known about the disease. There’s also a lot of confusion. Mr. Bob and his wife were always focused on nutrition, health, and exercise, so why did this disease had affect them? There’s a lot of anger. Mr. Bob sees studies about Alzheimer’s Disease, possible causes, possible treatments, but he knows none of them will help his wife. There’s also resentment. What happened to his freedom? They used to be so involved in their community, but now they spend their days together alone in the house.
Sue suggested that with this level of dementia Mr. Bob should consider 24 hour care. He was hesitant, so she suggested he would benefit from having a home health for aide at least 4-5 hours, 7 days a week. That way, the aide can foster a relationship and develop trust with Mrs. Bob, and Mr. Bob can decide whether or not he is comfortable with it. Either way, it would free up some time for him during the day.
Sue let Mr. Bob know that he was welcome to call her anytime with any new concerns, and she provided him with community resources for caregivers, like himself.
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Why is caregiving especially important to employers during the holidays?
As we’ve discussed before, it’s nearly impossible to separate work life and personal life – especially when you are a caregiver. This becomes even more apparent during the holidays. For caregivers, this time of the year can be especially stressful. For employers, this translates into
lost productivity, absenteeism and decreased profits as caregivers face emotional upset, stress and physical exhaustion.
Emotional Upset
How does it affect caregivers? Any caregiver can tell you that they’ve experienced guilt, and this can become worse during the holidays. Many caregivers experience guilt about disrupting the schedule of their ailing or aging loved one, not spending enough time with their family, and guilt about taking time to themselves. In addition to that, family events can bring up sadness and old wounds. Having all family members in one spot can remind people of how much has changed, and cause them to wish for the “good old days.” The holidays can be a very emotional time for caregivers.
How does it affect businesses? The caregivers who are feeling all of these difficult emotions need to feel supported by their employers during this difficult time. In an unsupported work environment, caregivers can easily feel overwhelmed, and this can result in absenteeism.
Stress
How does it affect caregivers? With holidays, there seems to be a never-ending list of to-do’s. For caregivers, this can be an issue because many caregivers have a strict schedule that they follow while providing care for their ailing or aging loved one. This schedule helps them to fulfill all of their caregiving responsibilities as well as their responsibilities to their employer, their family, and their friends. The holidays quickly interrupt to this schedule. These disruptions in this schedule cause stress for the caregiver and for the person they are providing care for.
How does it affect businesses? Employers are impacted because these high stress levels can result in presenteeism. Presenteeism is when an employee is physically at work, but they are not working at their highest potential. This is common among caregiver employees because they have an incredible amount of stress in all aspects of their life. Caring for somebody can be incredibly difficult, and during the holidays this stress is increased.
Physical Exhaustion
How does this affect caregivers? With all of the commitments around the holidays, caregivers can become physically exhausted. It’s exhausting for caregivers to maintain their responsibilities to their ailing or aging loved one, their employer and their family.
How does this affect businesses? Once again, this physical exhaustion can result in abseenteeism and presenteeism.
What can employers do? Employers can support their employees with programs such as WeCare+. At Long Term Solutions, we know how to work with caregivers and we are experts in eldercare. We will work with any caregiver employees you have and help them develop a plan of care and support them during their time as a caregiver. To learn more about WeCare+, visit our website by clicking here.
Emotional Upset
How does it affect caregivers? Any caregiver can tell you that they’ve experienced guilt, and this can become worse during the holidays. Many caregivers experience guilt about disrupting the schedule of their ailing or aging loved one, not spending enough time with their family, and guilt about taking time to themselves. In addition to that, family events can bring up sadness and old wounds. Having all family members in one spot can remind people of how much has changed, and cause them to wish for the “good old days.” The holidays can be a very emotional time for caregivers.
How does it affect businesses? The caregivers who are feeling all of these difficult emotions need to feel supported by their employers during this difficult time. In an unsupported work environment, caregivers can easily feel overwhelmed, and this can result in absenteeism.
Stress
How does it affect caregivers? With holidays, there seems to be a never-ending list of to-do’s. For caregivers, this can be an issue because many caregivers have a strict schedule that they follow while providing care for their ailing or aging loved one. This schedule helps them to fulfill all of their caregiving responsibilities as well as their responsibilities to their employer, their family, and their friends. The holidays quickly interrupt to this schedule. These disruptions in this schedule cause stress for the caregiver and for the person they are providing care for.
How does it affect businesses? Employers are impacted because these high stress levels can result in presenteeism. Presenteeism is when an employee is physically at work, but they are not working at their highest potential. This is common among caregiver employees because they have an incredible amount of stress in all aspects of their life. Caring for somebody can be incredibly difficult, and during the holidays this stress is increased.
Physical Exhaustion
How does this affect caregivers? With all of the commitments around the holidays, caregivers can become physically exhausted. It’s exhausting for caregivers to maintain their responsibilities to their ailing or aging loved one, their employer and their family.
How does this affect businesses? Once again, this physical exhaustion can result in abseenteeism and presenteeism.
What can employers do? Employers can support their employees with programs such as WeCare+. At Long Term Solutions, we know how to work with caregivers and we are experts in eldercare. We will work with any caregiver employees you have and help them develop a plan of care and support them during their time as a caregiver. To learn more about WeCare+, visit our website by clicking here.
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