The unseen costs of eldercare: employers can help employees help their aging parents, and save money in the process

Sally the Sales Rep is a smart, dedicated worker who almost always provides her employer with excellent service. Sometimes she can't, though, because she's distracted by obligations relating to her elderly father. Does her company help her out? No. Does it wind up paying, anyway? You bet.

A new study prepared for Metropolitan Life Insurance Company quantifies how much employers are paying, whether they know it or not, for employees with eldercare responsibilities. MetLife's position is that offering eldercare benefits is fiscally wise. It finds that employers stand to save $3 to $5 for every dollar they spend helping employees find eldercare resources. "We tell employers: "This is a real problem for you,'" says James Weil, vice president of MetLife's mature market group. "If you think about the leading edge of baby boomers just hitting age 50, you can see that more and more employees are going to be affected by aging parents."

In a study that applied a model of eldercare costs to an anonymous manufacturing firm with about 87,000 salaried employees, Sally Coberly, director of the Washington Business Group on Health and Gail Hunt of Gibson-Hunt Associates, found that total annual employer costs ran to $5.5 million. The analysis prepared for MetLife estimates that 2 percent of the firm's employees provide actual physical help to older relatives in the form of assistance with eating, bathing, dressing, and so on.

The 2 percent estimate is conservative. It takes into account the fact that the manufacturer has a highly male-skewed work force; it doesn't include those who provide less intensive services to parents such as shopping and financial assistance, and it doesn't include costs incurred by employees who provide long-distance support to aging parents. Since women are much more likely than men to provide eldercare, organizations with larger shares of women employees can expect higher eldercare-related costs. Using a more liberal 12 percent prevalence of caregivers in the work force would crank up estimated employer costs for the study firm to $33 million.

Various factors feed into the price employers pay for eldercare. In the manufacturing case study, replacement costs stemmed from the estimated 1 percent of caregiving employees who quit their jobs altogether to care for an older parent. An estimated 11 percent of caregivers take off an average of six days a year to provide routine care, while over half of caregivers average three days a year dealing with eldercare crises. Other costs include extra managerial time needed to supervise caregivers, as well as the high demand placed by some caregivers on health insurance benefits and mental health services.

Partial absenteeism--late arrivals, long lunch breaks, early departures--takes its toll, too, but not nearly as much as the workday interruptions faced by caregivers who talk on the phone with loved ones and service providers. This situation can arise even with employees who don't physically care for parents or whose parents live elsewhere. Estimated at one hour per week per caregiver, this factor is the biggest drain of all on employee productivity, amounting to over half of the estimated total cost to the manufacturing firm analyzed in the study.

Employers can ameliorate many of these costs without too much trouble or expense by offering resource and referral hotlines that guide workers toward adult day care, meals on wheels, and other services. This type of benefit costs as little as 50 cents to $1 per employee, says MetLife's Weil. Today, about 1,200 corporations in the U.S. offer such resource programs. Two of the best, according to Hunt, are provided by Marriott International and IBM.

Since Mariott's business depends on customer service, the mood of its employees is extremely important, says Donna Klein, director of the corporation's worklife programs. Marriott tested its Associate Resource Line for nearly two years. Now, any of its 185,000 employees nationwide can dial a toll-free number any time of the day or night and consult in one of many languages with professional social workers about a wide range of personal problems.

"We want our resource line to handle anything and everything that may be happening in the employee's life that could affect his or her productivity," says Klein. The average Mariott worker is just 35, but 15 percent say they have eldercare responsibilities. During the test period, eldercare issues accounted for 8 percent of calls. As American workers and their parents get older, that number is bound to grow.

"The MetLife Study of Employer Costs for Working Caregivers" is available at no charge from MetLife Senior Services; telephone (203) 221-6580.

American Demographics, 06/01/96 by Tibbett L. Speer

Employee Assistance Program - The University of Vermont

Eldercare Resources

The American family is undergoing historic changes. Because of an unprecedented demographic shift, we are changing from a young to an old society. We live at a time of unprecedented increase in life expectancy the average expectancy is 76 years. The National Institute of Aging predicts that by 2040 the number of Americans 85 and over could grow to more than 30 million (UVM Center for the Study of Aging). This trend has been called the "age wave," and it is forcing critical changes in the way we live and work, and in how we care for those we love. One of the most dramatic changes is in the number of people who are responsible for elder care. A study by the American Society on Aging estimates that approximately 25 million Americans are now caring for a parent or older loved one. Between one-third to one-half of all caregivers are also employed outside the home.

Working caregivers sacrifice leisure time, and often suffer stress-related illnesses. Negative effects on working caregivers include time lost from work, lower productivity, quitting a job to give care, lost career opportunities and lower future earnings. Eventually, some 12 percent quit their jobs to provide care full-time. Recent research indicates the costs to employers averages $2500 per worker involved in care giving (Scharlach, Lowe and Schneider, 1991). Nationally, recent research indicates the loss in productivity costs businesses between 11.4 billion dollars and 29 billion dollars annually (Metropolitan Life, 1997). When elder care issues arise, you need to act as early as you can. You need to know what questions to ask, what kind of help is available and what is most appropriate. (For example, your elder may not need to go into a nursing home; all that may be required is to safety-proof his/her own home, or bring in someone to do household chores, for a fraction of the cost.)

Many faculty and staff find themselves in conflict with their career and job responsibilities and those of being parents and having aging and increasingly dependent parents. By offering these resources and EAP services at the workplace, you will be provided the information, support and consultation that will decrease your stress levels and allow you to give better care and support to your family.

The Strain on Caregivers

If you feel that caring for a loved one has increased your stress level, you are not alone. In fact, many caregivers are at a higher risk of illness and injury than their non-caregiving counterparts. Sixty percent of caregivers report physical strain as a result of caregiving, and many others report anxiety, depression, substance abuse and weight changes as a direct result of caregiving.

The stresses of caregiving are not just physical, they are emotional and financial as well. Eighty percent of caregivers report a great deal of emotional strain brought on by caregiving. Financial burdens and concerns about work surely contribute to this strain.

http://www.uvm.edu/~uvmeap/?Page=eldercare.html&SM=eldermenu.html

Backup eldercare helps caregivers balance work and family responsibilities

When UPS employee Diane Davies needed help in taking care of her dad, who is in his 80s, a coworker told her to try Senior Helpers, a service provider that offers backup eldercare.

"My mom had gone into the hospital to have an operation, and during the procedure she had a stroke," says Davies, who works at UPS's airline division in Louisville, Ky.

Her mother, also in her 80s, went into rehabilitation. "During that time, my dad really couldn't stay at home by himself, so my brother and I had to stay with him, but I also had to work," explains Davies, who didn't take the traditional route of contacting her employee assistance program for eldercare advice.

Davies' experience at UPS reflects how employers are recognizing that workers who are caring for an aging relative need an array of options to successfully manage professional and family responsibilities. Yet in offering eldercare programs and services, employers may sometimes struggle in communicating those efforts to their workforce.

Spreading the word

Even though companies have eldercare programs and services, employees do not always know about them, says Kathleen O'Brien, senior gerontologist with MetLife Mature Market Institute.
The Connecticut-based institute, which studies retirement and aging issues, conducted a survey of employees who were caregivers that worked at three Fortune 500 companies offering robust eldercare benefits.

"Two-thirds of the respondents did not know that the employer had those programs," says O'Brien.

"The company may announce the services, but people are not thinking about them when they are announced, and when they become a caregiver, it's not upfront anymore."

The implication for employers is to increase employees' knowledge about eldercare services. Citing research from the Society for Human Resource Management, O'Brien says about 11% of employers train their middle managers about caregiving programs and how to work with employees using those services.

Research from the institute also shows nearly 63% of all caregivers ages 51 to 64 work, with most employed full-time. About 75% of them are the primary caregiver. In addition, male and female children of aging parents alter their work schedules to accommodate caregiving responsibilities.

For instance, 54% of men and 56% of women have modified their work schedules, with 78% of men and 84% of women coming in late and/or leaving early. In addition, 38% of men and 27% of women have altered their work-related travel.

Bottom-line implications

More employers are starting to understand the financial toll eldercare may have on their bottom line, O'Brien confirms.

In 2006, the MetLife Mature Market Institute and the National Alliance for Caregiving reported that U.S. companies pay between $17.1 billion and $33.6 billion annually in lost productivity due to caregiving, depending on the level of caregiving involved. That equals $2,110 for every full-time worker who cares for an adult relative, notes AARP.

Historically, most eldercare services offered in the workplace resembled the childcare benefit model in terms of offering information and referrals to agencies that could help workers who were caregivers.

Some companies have moved to a more sophisticated model in which they provide a care management visit, where a long-term care specialist talks with the family to sort out the caregiving issues, explains O'Brien. What's more, some employers have onsite support groups, while others provide substantive resource materials written by caregiving experts.

"We don't really think of flextime as specifically for eldercare, but the ability [to take a] leave of absence without it impacting your job, and the ability to arrange your schedule in a different way, are benefits that help people deal with eldercare," she says.

Lending a helping hand

Maryland-based Senior Helpers provides in-home personal and companion care for seniors. This includes help with housework, meal preparation, errands, transportation, medicine reminders and Alzheimer's care.

UPS, which employs about 358,000 U.S. workers, offers an employee discount program where it collaborates with companies that provide group discounts on services and products, including Senior Helpers.

"Employees who may have the need to use Senior Helpers for services are offered a discount through Senior Helpers," says Jackie Blair, a UPS spokeswoman.

In Davies' case, it was a 10% discount on services rendered for a week. "It went smoothly, but more then anything, it took a lot of pressure off me in terms of work and taking care of my dad," says Davies, who has been with the package delivery company for 15 years. She is part of its administrative staff in the international support unit.

"I felt like he was being taken care of. He is at the point where, if something were to go wrong with the services, he would be able to tell me," Davies explains. "I never felt, as a caregiver, I was under a lot of pressure to retain my job." Management has been accommodating, she adds.

As the population ages, more people will start to have loved ones who are living longer. Consequently, they will need some extra help in taking care of those individuals, says Tony Bonacuse, president of Senior Helpers.

"We want to help employers understand the cost associated with eldercare crises and what workers who are caregivers are going through," he explains.

The idea for the company originated, in part, by watching his mother, who was working part-time, struggle to find professional help to assist her with taking care of one grandmother with a broken ankle and another one with a hip replacement. Both women were in their 80s.

"Unless you have had a need for homecare, you really do not realize our industry exists outside of the general health care industry," Bonacuse adds.

"In a lot of respects, senior care has been an underground issue," says Cindy Carrillo, president of Colorado-based Work Options Group, which offers backup care for infants, school-aged children and seniors.

"When someone has a baby, employers see the process unfold, and then the employee has the baby and pictures to show for it. You don't talk about mom falling and breaking a hip," she adds. "We're trying to help educate employers that senior care is a concern."

"Backup eldercare helps caregivers balance work and family responsibilities"
By Lydell C. Bridgeford, June 1, 2008
http://ebn.benefitnews.com/news/backup-eldercare-helps-caregivers-balance-work-586401-1.html

2008 Tax Information for Seniors

The following is helpful information for seniors and their families for the 2008 tax season:

Tax Guide for Seniors
http://www.irs.gov/publications/p554/index.html

Tips for Seniors in Preparing their Taxes
http://www.irs.gov/individuals/retirees/article/0,,id=154021,00.html

Claiming the Credit for the Elderly or the Disabled
http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=106798,00.html

Common Errors Made by Taxpayers 65 and Older
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p4644.pdf

The 4 Steps of Long Term Care Planning

The Importance of Planning for Eldercare
According to some sources, 60% of us will need long term care sometime during our lives. It is important for all of us to prepare for that day when we will need to help loved ones with care or we will need long term care for ourselves.

We may prepare financially for unexpected disasters by covering our homes, automobiles and health with insurance policies. But no other life event can be as devastating to an elderly person's lifestyle, finances and security as needing long term care. It drastically alters or completely eliminates the three principal retirement dreams of elderly Americans:

• Remaining independent in the home without intervention from others.
• Maintaining good health and receiving adequate health care.
• Having enough money for everyday needs and not outliving assets and income.

Yet, it is our experience that the majority of the American public does not plan for the devastating crisis of needing eldercare. This lack of planning also has an adverse effect on the older person's family, with sacrifices made in time, money, family lifestyles and even affecting the family's or caregiver's medical and emotional health.

Because of changing demographics and potential changes in government funding, the current generation -- more-than-ever -- needs to plan for long term care before the elder years are upon them.

What Is Long Term Care?
The need for long term care arises when an individual requires, from someone else, assistance with medical care, daily living activities, comfort, supervision or advice. This need for care may be caused by an accident, disease process, or frailty. Such conditions may require help with the ability to move about, dress, bathe, eat, use a toilet, medicate, and avoid incontinence.

Also care may be needed to help the disabled person with household cleaning, preparing meals, transportation, shopping, paying bills, visiting the doctor and answering the phone.

Oftentimes, long term care in the form of supervision or confinement is needed due to cognitive impairment from stroke, mental retardation, depression, dementia, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's Disease, and so on. Most long term care is provided at home by family members.

What Is Long Term Care or Eldercare Planning?
For seniors, the terms "long term care" and "eldercare" are synonymous. For younger people, "long term care" is the more appropriate phrase.

For the uninformed, eldercare or long term care might appear to be a very straightforward and easy-to-understand process. Unfortunately, the reality is that long term care is very complicated and finding care systems and providers is a frustrating and time-consuming process. There is no one single source to help caregivers find services or solve problems with a simple phone call or a single community contact. For this reason, planning for care requires a great deal of prior knowledge in order to avoid operating in a crisis mode trying to find help when the need for care suddenly arises.

However, knowledge of long term care systems is not enough. Because it can happen suddenly, at any time, you must take action now to prepare for the day when you will need to deal with eldercare for your loved ones or for yourself. This action involves:

• Determining the care settings and services you or a loved one most likely would want.
• Providing funding for paying the cost of care, especially when government support programs are lacking or require sacrifice of assets.
• Completing a survey to determine necessary financial and legal arrangements to be made.
• Completing a written long term care planning document to provide instructions to caregivers and to your care coordinator in advance of needing eldercare.
• Assigning a care coordinator and determining the role of other family members, friends or advisers involved in caregiving.
• Holding a planning meeting and drawing up a written agreement for involvement between all those who are willing to participate in future caregiving for you or a loved one.

We have defined four critical steps necessary in this process for long term care planning. These four steps will be described below. The four steps are based on the following four concepts:

• Knowledge and preparation are the keys to success.
• Having funds to pay for care greatly expands the choices for care settings and providers.
• Using professional help relieves stress, reduces conflict, and saves time and money.
• Success is assured through a written plan accepted by all parties involved.

Our book is designed as a self-contained reference for long term care services and advisers. The book also becomes your written care plan since it contains your personal document locator, your personal survey, your written care plan with instructions and a written care planning agreement between all parties involved. By including all of the necessary information, documentation and instructions under one cover, the book becomes a single-source, valuable resource used by family members, caregivers and the care coordinator for carrying out the plan. The book also introduces the unique concepts of assigning someone as a care coordinator, who is not a caregiver, and organizing a meeting and completing a written agreement between family members or others who are involved in the care.

The 4 Steps of Long Term Care Planning is the first planning book of its kind. It offers a unique approach to helping you understand the need for and the process of planning for long term care. Filled with references, check sheets, and planning forms, the book guides you in 4 easy steps to creating a plan for you or a loved one's long term care. To request your copy of The 4 Steps of Long Term Care Planning, please visit http://carechanges.com/care-resources/the-4-steps-of-long-term-care-planning.