Eldercare expert and NAWBO-Columbus member Barbara McVicker spoke at the October monthly meeting about the 75 million Americans who are “stuck in the middle” of kids, career, and caregiving their elderly parents.

Barbara is a national speaker and author of the book Stuck in the Middle:  Shared Stories and Tips for Caregiving Your Elderly Parents.  She was inspired to write the book after the trials and tribulations she faced during the ten year span in which she took care of both of her parents.

Her talk focussed on preparing yourself for caregiving, as well as how to implement caregiving policies in your business to help provide a lifeline for employees who are caregivers.

She stressed the need to have the crucial conversations with your parents (and your children) now, rather than when it is too late.  She said one of the biggest challenges for caregivers was being unprepared and uninformed.

With upwards of 75 million people caring for an elderly parent, it is no wonder that 62% of caregiving workers have made adjustments to their work life, including reporting late to work, stopping work all together, cutting back on hours, or giving up vacation.  McVicker quoted that 17% of caregivers are providing care at least 40 hours a week!

For the business owner, the most shocking number was arguably that American businesses lose up to $34 billion each year due to employees’ needs to care for elderly relatives.  She highlighted the need for all companies to provide eldercare benefits to their employes, siting a rise in health and well-being, productivity, and loyatly in those company’s which already provide such benefits (only 21% nationwide.)

Here are two lists of advice she presented for businesses to help them support their caregiving employees:

Caregiver cures for the workplace:

  • Set boundaries
  • Support group
  • Take personal time
  • Training & information
  • Ask for help
  • Utilize respite care
  • Set priorities
  • Make choices
  • Delegate
  • Be proactive
  • Achieve balance
  • Hire help

Resources businesses can provide to their caregiving employees:

  • Lunch-n-Learns
  • Webinars
  • Keynotes
  • Support groups
  • Elder care expert on staff
  • Making it a safe topic to discuss
  • Flexible hours/job sharing

Barbara was kind enough to provide a Caregiver’s Call to Action to all NAWBO-Columbus members.  To download the list, please click here.

For more information on Barbara and Stuck in the Middle, you can visit her website at http://www.barbaramcvicker.com.

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