By John Paul Marosy, President
Bringing Elder Care Home LLC
jpmarosy@charter.net
(508) 854-0431

Donna Wagner, Ph.D., is Director, Gerontology Program, Towson University, and author of several ground-breaking studies on elder care in the work place.

JPM: What were the social conditions when you began your research on this topic?

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DW: The first studies on elder care in the workplace were undertaken in the 1980's. They looked at the question of whether or not elder care/work balance was a problem. At that time, most people viewed work and family as two separate realms of life.

Today, we are seeing the result of the unprecedented number of women who have entered the workplace. If there are two adults in a household today, the likelihood is that they are both working. Often, there isn't anyone at home to care for a family member who needs help.

It was easier to put the barrier up between work and family when there weren't as many people in the workplace. Today, even if you wanted to keep the two areas separate, it's very difficult to do so.

In the 1980's, there were many stereotypes. For example, if an employer had a production facility and it was mainly staffed by men, the employer would say "Oh, we don't have an elder care problem." Other employers would say that there may be an elder care problem, but not in our workplace.

JPM: What are the new factors today?

DW: Today, employers are much more savvy. About 25% of large employers are sponsoring programs to deal with elder care to try to mitigate some of the negative effects. There's been a shift of thinking to #1 Accept elder care as a workplace issue and #2: Recognize that it might be something that is worth managing.

Another key factor is the large number of men who are involved in caregiving. This has been an eye-opener for many of us who do research. This is important because many employers might have downplayed elder care as "just a women's issue." That's changing.

In regard to males and caregiving: Men are much less likely than women to talk about caregiving at work. They are less likely to talk to co-workers or to reach out to supervisors to make use of elder care programs. Men are helping the problem continue because they are not speaking out about their caregiving experience.

Men are doing just about the same types of caregiving tasks as women. They are equally likely to be managing money, managing medications, arranging for services. The one area where there continues to be a difference? Women are still more likely to provide hands-on personal care. Women also are reporting a higher number of care hours than men.

JPM: What else is different about today's environment?

DW: Another important recent change is that we are seeing a significant drop in the number of family caregivers who are helping with activities of daily living (2004 National Alliance for Caregiving survey). We have better policies now for Medicare home care services and we've seen dramatic growth in assisted living services. These formal services are picking up where family members leave off.

In order to work, people are not going to give up caring for a parent. Private pay home care is going to be a lifeline for the family caregiver of the future, even more so than today.

John Paul Marosy
Editor and President,
Bringing Elder Care Home, LLC

John Paul Marosy is the author of Elder Care: A Six Step Guide to Balancing Work and Family, available from Bringing Elder Care Home Publishing online at www.bringingeldercarehome.com or by calling 508-854-0431. Visit www.bringingeldercarehome.com or call or email today to learn how your organization can offer this effective resource: (508) 854-0431 or jpmarosy@bringingeldercarehome.com

This newsletter may be reprinted in whole or in part so long as the author, John Paul Marosy, is credited and the Web site address, www.bringingeldercarehome.com, is provided.