What impact does caregiving have on the employers of family caregivers?
On Stress:
- For employed caregivers, there are increased stress-related illnesses, leading to greater use of employee health benefits, and additional health care costs for the employer.
On Absenteeism:
- Approximately 2/3 of working caregivers report that there are work conflicts resulting from unpaid leaves of absence.
- As a result, the impact on their work may include decreased productivity, increased absenteeism, increased turnover, and the loss of between 5-12 day of work annually.
From Area Agency on Aging, Frequently Asked Questions concerning Family Caregiving:
Area Agency on Aging
The Agency's Frequently Asked Questions concerning Famly Caregiving
Miles Away: The Metlife Study of Long-Distance Caregiving
Long-distance guilt and obligations:
Long-distance care providers have complicated situations that pit their career choices directly with their family obligations. Emotional issues are difficult for many of these care providers as they face feelings of guilt because they are far
from their loved one. - p.13
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Harvard Medical School Study
"Our study shows that people are connected in such a fashion that the health of one person is related to the health of another,"
"When a spouse is hospitalized, the partner's risk of death increases significantly and remains elevated for up to two years,"he notes. The period of greatest risk is over the short run, within 30 days of a spouse's hospitalization or death. Over this time frame, hospitalization in a spouse can confer to a partner almost as much risk of dying as the actual death of a spouse.
Nicholas Christakis, MD, PhD,
professor in the Department of Health Care Policy at Harvard Medical School
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Our Experience with Customers
On one visit, a customer's mother was clearly in pain, but thought she could not get any additional medication for several hours. We notified the nursing home staff and after an evaluation, her meds were increased, relieving the pain.
A customer alerted us that she was worried because her mother was being very short and quick on the phone. When we talked with her about it, we found she was being courteous to the nursing home staff who needed to hold the phone to her ear due to some reduced mobility. We were able to relay this back to the family who acquired a special phone for these situations. It allowed her to speak freely with her daughter again.
