Lan’s Story
Lan is a professional. He doesn’t own the company, but he has a prestigious management position. He is invited to policy meetings but doesn’t make policy. Ian is at the peak of his career. He feels confident he can manage any situation that comes up. Ian’s dad lives nearby.
Ian’s dad has diabetes and has begun to struggle with some of the normal activities of daily life (ADL) as he ages. So far, that has mostly meant that Ian leaves work early, comes in late or takes an occasional day off to take his dad out shopping, fix things around the place and make sure the lawn is mowed. And Ian arranged for a housekeeper service to come to tidy up his dad’s house once or twice a week. Ian makes a point of taking his dad out for a meal as often as his schedule allows, too.
Otherwise, Ian just takes his dad to the doctor. His dad doesn’t drive because of his visual problems, and Ian wants to make sure his dad is getting the best care possible. This past visit, the nurse took Ian aside. She explained some details about his father’s medication and treatment plan, explaining that Ian should understand the process because he is the “caregiver”.
What a shock! Ian never considered himself a “caregiver” before. He was just helping his dad out like any ‘good son’ would do.
The Employee Caregiver Dilemma – Escalating Projects
Every time they went into the doctor’s office, it seemed like Ian was given another assignment. Make sure this, and buy that. The projects escalated and became more time consuming as the months passed. Monitors and prescriptions… and once he was even told to change the dressing on a wound on his father’s foot. Although he felt no resentment toward his father, Ian soon felt the medical system was pushing what should be their jobs onto him! But, how to set boundaries when a doctor tells you to do something for your dad?!? He didn’t want to deprive his father of the care he needed, but Ian sure didn’t want to get pushed into being a medical services provider, either!
In Ian’s mind, like in most everyone else’s, this was a family problem. The healthcare system wasn’t going to do anything more for his father, and his employer certainly had no hand in any of it.
So, What to Do?
Ian had adequate foresight to realize that as time goes on this situation was not going to get easier to handle. So, he specifically took action early. As an executive, he is not one for begging for assistance from government agencies or non-profits, but he realized that there had to be some way to approach this logically.
Lan’s schedule was jam-packed. But he went ahead and took the time to enroll in the Caregivers and Caregiving Workshop 1. The Big Picture, through LifeWorkx. As a starting point, it provided him with foundational information as an employee-caregiver. He found the Information Papers to be enlightening, and the Action Sheets to be a help as he decided on the next steps in what he now accepted was his family caregiving journey with his dad. He was surprised by how little time it took to learn so much that made such a big difference. As a result of what he learned through LifeWorkx, Ian was able to develop an action plan that involved his father’s medical team, Ian’s employer, and the rest of the family.
Update:
Ian has approached his company with the caregiving dilemma he faces. He quickly discovered that over 30% of the other employees are facing similar challenges. He introduced his company policymakers to LifeWorkx, so they could use the employer resources, too. His employer is working to shift policies to support employee-caregivers while finding a surprising return on investment as they do. He has also personally taken further training through LifeWorkx, specifically designed to navigate the healthcare industry. Ian now knows what responsibilities he must take on, and what he can rely on others to do.
This has been another CareWise Corner Vignette.
