Families Gather to Examine Caregiving Challenges

Millions of families across America and around the world gather this weekend for a spring celebration. Close to half of families will discuss plans for how to support and manage the care of an aging family member. In 2020, 41.8 million Americans provided unpaid care for adults aged 50 or older, and the numbers increase daily.

Emotions run high with potential disagreements and concerns about providing the best care. Most family caregivers have a job, so many (often silently) worry about juggling caregiving with their careers and other responsibilities.

If you are sitting around a table with your family this weekendy, consider this list of topics to keep the conversation on track.

Topics of Discussion for Caregiving Families

These questions help families look at the potential for escalating care needs.

How many hours of care does your aging loved one require per week?

• Less than one
• One to three
• Three to Five
• Five to Ten
• Over Ten

How many family members are involved in the support of the aging family member?

• One
• Two
• Three
• Four
• Five

How many pseudo-medical or nursing tasks, like taking BP, checking blood sugar, giving IVs etc., do family caregivers provide for your aging family member?

• Zero
• One non-vital monitoring, such as borderline BP
• One vital monitoring, such as blood sugar or high BP
• Two or more non-invasive nursing tasks or monitoring
• Invasive nursing tasks such as giving injections, IVs, or providing life-sustaining care

Medication management includes acquiring and reconciling medications, ensuring patient compliance and desired outcomes, and monitoring side effects. How challenging has it been for caregivers to support medication management for your loved one?

• This has not been challenging for our family
• We have had some minor issues, but they were resolved quickly
• We have faced some challenges, and there are some ongoing issues
• Medication management is a significant challenge, so we are looking for solutions
• The current issues with medication management are negatively impacting the health of our aging loved one

How much more care does your aging loved one require now compared to a year ago?

• About the same
• An hour or so more per week
• About 5 more hours per week
• About 10 more hours per week
• More than 10 more hours than last year

How likely is your loved one to need more support next year?

• Not likely
• Probably
• Quite likely
• Most likely
• Absolutely

The average number of years a family cares for an aging family member before they enter full-time care is over 5 years. How many more years do you estimate your family will be providing care?

• Less than 1 year
• Between 1 and 2 years
• Between 2 and 4 years
• Between 4 and 5 years
• Over 5 years

Caregiving Resource Assessment

These questions help families look at the requirements for caregiving resources.

How many external resources, such as paid in-home care or supportive AI, does your family know how to access?

• None
• Maybe 1 or 2
• Certainly 1 or 2
• 2 to 5
• More than 5

How well does your family work together to provide caregiving support to your aging loved one?

• We don’t work together. One person does all the caregiving
• We let one person make all the decisions, then the rest of us just do what we’re told
• We argue, but we usually work things out so each of us helps out at least some
• We have some disagreements, but we work things out so we all contribute
• We work well as a team, supporting our aging family member together so nobody gets overworked, and we provide the best care possible

How much support does your employer provide for family caregivers?

• My employer doesn’t even know I’m caring for my aging family member
• My employer doesn’t ask why I need time off to support my aging family member, and I wouldn’t dare tell them
• My employer considers my focus on my aging family member to be a lack of commitment to my career
• My employer is sympathetic but doesn’t really know what to do to support me. There are some flex hours and leaves of absence, but nothing more. I think they might be open to more ideas that could help
• My employer has deployed a complete caregiver support program that includes workplace training for team leaders, and employees, an AI solution to support independence at home, and access to resources.

How confident are you that you know what questions to ask to find the resources you need to protect your career and family relationships and ensure your aging loved one receives exceptional care?

• I feel confident I know what to ask to get the answers we’ll need
• I wish I felt more confident, so I feel the pressure of this caregiving crisis
• I am spending a lot of time researching, but I don’t seem to come up with much in the way of practical solutions
• I have no idea where to turn to find answers and no real idea what questions to ask
• Our family is absolutely in crisis mode

The average caregiver contributes over $7,000 a year to the care of their loved one. How much does the cost of care interfere with your ability to support your own family?

• Not at all
• A little
• Some
• Quite a bit
• Significantly

Most caregivers work. How significant is the impact of providing care for your aging loved one on your job?

• My caregiving responsibilities do not impact my job
• My caregiving responsibilities are impacting my job more and more all the time
• I have already taken time off work to fulfill my caregiving responsibilities
• I will need to take significant time off work to continue caring for my loved one
• I may need to quit my job to provide adequate care for my loved one

Some families have the financial resources to hire professional in-home care for an aging loved one who needs support. If your family can afford this type of care, how difficult has it been to find someone to fill the position?

• We’ve had no trouble hiring and keeping someone as a professional, in-home caregiver
• We’ve had some trouble hiring someone, but once we do, we have no problem keeping them
• We’ve had some trouble finding in-home help, and keeping them has been so hard. It has been a revolving door of new help
• We’ve had significant trouble finding someone to interview, let alone hiring anyone
• We’ve waited for months for a response to our need for in-home care

How familiar are you with the family care system?

• I am well acquainted with the family care system and feel I can navigate it confidently
• I am somewhat acquainted with the family care system and feel some stress about navigating it effectively enough to provide appropriate care
• I am not very familiar with the family care system, and I am somewhat concerned and looking for solutions
• I am not familiar at all, and I am somewhat concerned and looking for solutions
• Not familiar at all, and I’m worried about it

How is caregiving impacting your other relationships with your spouse? Children? Friends? Parents? Co-workers?

• I have not noticed any changes
• There are some slight changes, but the other people in my life are exceptionally supportive of my role as a caregiver
• I am noticing more negative impact as time goes on, especially as I spend more time caregiving
• My relationships are increasingly stressed.
• I have had an argument about my inability to manage my everyday responsibilities

Has your family agreed to a life and care plan with a shared commitment to caring for your aging loved one?

• No. I didn’t even know that was a thing.
• No. We talked about the idea, but it never went anywhere
• No. We had several in-depth discussions but could never agree on anything
• Partially. We started the process and have some concrete decisions, but there are still holes in the plan
• Yes. We met together and invited legal and financial professionals into the discussions for expert opinions

Do you feel your employer supports your efforts to keep your job or sends you home to use your vacation or family leave time to provide caregiving support?

• I work in a hostile work environment where the idea anyone has anything to do outside of work is rejected out of hand
• My employer is oblivious to the issues caregivers face
• My employer would like to support all the caregivers at the company but doesn’t know what to do besides offering time off
• My employer offers training and employee benefits to support caregivers, but most of it centers around how to be a better caregiver, not how to protect my career path
• My employer is also a caregiver, and I believe they would do more if they knew what was available

Do the team leaders in your organization have the skills to lead and manage the unique requirements of caregivers without making it seem like you are getting preferential treatment?

• No. If there’s a team leader who could pick out a caregiver on the team, I’d be shocked
• No. The team leaders are coping with high turnover and low productivity, so they are just trying to keep their jobs
• Not really. The team leaders know who some of the caregivers are, but all they can do is offer time off and try not to put too much extra work on the rest of the team
• Some. The team leaders realize that caregiving is a natural part of life, so they try to be flexible
• Yes. The team leaders have all received formal training on how to support caregivers. Our organization implemented the training because of the increase in successful legal actions from caregivers.

Conclusion

If you managed to get through all those questions during your visit, you are likely making exceptional progress on your caregiving journey.

These questions highlight many of the issues CareWise Solutions sees as employers step forward to support employment and the ability of their employees to care for family members.

If answering these questions is a concern for you, it may be time to step back and evaluate how you are advocating for yourself and your loved one. Is your loved one receiving the amount of care they need for a high quality of life?

Are you empowering yourself to ask for the services and support that you feel they need? Are you prepared to discuss your career and work success with your employer and your colleagues? Are you ready to tell them what you need to maintain your job and your career?

There is a long list of questions. We can’t cover them all here. What CareWise Solutions does is provide the answers and resources you need and customized programs for your organization. Spring is a time of renewal. This is a time to renew your commitment to your family’s quality of life and care. Make a plan and move forward boldly. It’s time to move from the family caregiving crisis to confidence in the future!

The CareWise Solutions educational programs and ability to access the resources you need through the Caring Place HUB prepare you for self and family advocacy.

For more information about how CareWise Solutions could help you and your organization, book a 30-minute discovery call with Jeannette Galvanek.