Long before the pandemic took hold, Americans were dealing with another crisis that left close to 40 million people feeling isolated, frustrated and financially uncertain: caregiving.
While COVID-19 has exacerbated this problem, it has also shined a spotlight on the struggles caregivers face, forcing employers to find solutions to help this underserved employee population. While benefits that specifically target caregiver employees haven’t yet become a standard offering, there are ways organizations can step up and offer support.
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“Caregiver support is really critical and one thing we’re seeing is companies setting up caregiver ERGs,” says Lindsay Jurist-Rosner, CEO of caregiver benefits platform Wellthy. “The powerful thing about caregiving ERGs is they give employees permission and space to open up, share what they're dealing with, and connect with others to learn how they are dealing with things.”
Jurist-Rosner connected with Employee Benefit News to discuss some of the strides Wellthy has made over the last year, how employers can provide greater support and what is really on the minds of caregivers as the pandemic continues.
How has Wellthy grown over the last year?
When you think of Wellthy and the standard companies offering caregiver support, you typically think of technology companies, professional services companies and financial services companies.
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What we saw, especially through 2021, was the adoption of caregiving support beyond those typical employers — hospitals, health systems, oil and gas companies, defense contracting companies. We’ve also expanded outside of the U.S., in Canada, the U.K. and the Republic of Ireland.
Caregiving is really a global crisis, but because the systems are a bit different in other countries, the needs of families are a bit different.
How are people’s caregiving needs different outside of the U.S.?
In Canada and in the U.K., it’s more about helping families who are on care facility waitlists. In the U.S., long-term care is not covered by Medicare, so families either pay out of pocket or are trying to gain access to care through Medicaid or other programs. Here it's not just about finding care, but figuring out how to cover the cost of care. Outside of the U.S. it's less about covering the cost of care and more about dealing with long waitlists to gain access to care.
What are some of the biggest concerns caregivers have right now?
Finding the right fit for their in-home care. There’s just a massive supply shortage for in-home caregivers — be it child care or care for an aging loved one. Through the pandemic a lot of people who were serving in those care roles moved out of those roles due to safety concerns or because families became uncomfortable with in-home care. But now that everybody is back to being comfortable with in-home care, it is really hard to find folks who are the right fit for families. It’s the same thing for older adults. We’re seeing people wait months to get a spot in an assisted living home.
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Then the big stuff that we see families struggling with is how to pay for care. That’s always been the challenge, and it got more complicated through the pandemic. We hear how employees are burning out and are at their breaking point. They're looking for more support for care for loved ones, but they're also stretched financially and so it's just really challenging.
What are some actionable steps that employers can take to alleviate some of that pressure and provide solutions?
One thing that is very progressive — that other employers can do, too — is that AARP just decided to have their caregiving ERG run by a full-time dedicated employee, someone whose sole purpose is to run that ERG. That's really cool — when you think about caregivers, they are already stretched thin, they're already burnt out but they are exactly the kind of people who tend to also volunteer for unpaid positions, like running an ERG.
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Another big trend we’re seeing is caregiver PTO. Wellthy has started doing this for our own team members and other companies like Workday do it, too. Maybe at the last minute someone has to take mom to an emergency doctor's appointment, and so a lot of companies are now offering caregiving PTO days. The important thing about that is really recognizing that caregiving is a major reason for people needing to take some time away from work, and not asking employees to use vacation or sick time for those caregiving responsibilities.
What surprised you most about the pandemic’s impact on caregiving?
How caring we've seen employers be. There's been this massive shift in our country. Employers used to think about employees in terms of high-cost claimants and how to reduce costs and how to help people live healthier lives so they don’t create more costs. And now employers genuinely care, and they genuinely understand that employees are dealing with incredibly difficult situations. Of course for many it’s still about dollars and cents, but we’re seeing large employers making major strides and major moves to really take care of and support and be good to their employees.
