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

Welcome to this first edition of Elder Care/Work Balance!

Our goal is to provide leaders like you with information and insights for creating more caring, more productive work places. We welcome your news items, comments, and suggestions.

Governments and businesses world-wide are paying more attention to family caregiving. On October 12-14, 2002, over 700 leaders from 21 countries gathered in Washington, DC for the 3rd International Conference on Family Care, organized by the National Alliance for Caregiving (NAC). You can request a free copy of conference proceedings at NAC's website www.caregiving.org.

At the conference, I talked with officials of the federal Medicare program about a new initiative by Medicare to reach employed caregivers via their employers.

Lindsey Cometa (lcometa@cms.hhs.gov) of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) told conference attendees that the giant government health insurer will launch a first-of-its kind effort next month to reach millions of employed caregivers via their employers. CMS plans to distribute:

• An Employer Eldercare Toolkit,
• A new Medicare booklet providing basic information about the program, and
• An accompanying poster asking "Do you care for an older adult?"

Why is Medicare interested?

"It made business sense for us," said Cometa. CMS research found that many Medicare-related decisions are made or influenced by caregivers - relatives or friends of people on Medicare. "People often wait too long to access Medicare when there's a problem or crisis. And in a crisis situation, you don't make the best decisions," she said.

The Toolkit will emphasize low-cost, no-cost approaches. "Research shows that the number one reason employers have not addressed elder care in the workplace is the perception that the cost will be prohibitive. We wanted to give employers a list of actions they can take that are cost-effective," said NAC executive director Gail Hunt who helped CMS develop the Toolkit.

The Toolkit informs employers of the support services available to family caregivers under the new National Family Caregiver Support Program at Area Agencies on Aging (AAA's) around the U.S. The Toolkit lists the Eldercare Locator "800" number that links callers to the AAA in their community
(1-800-677-1116).

What's next?

Medicare's foray into the world of work and caregiving raises interesting questions, among them:

• Once smaller businesses have this new information, will they act on it?
• If employers call Area Agencies on Aging for help, will AAA's be ready to respond to the specific needs of employed caregivers?
• With limited financial resources, should AAA's provide services without charge for employees of profitable businesses?
• Whose responsibility is it to help employed caregivers stay healthy and productive?

What do you think? Visit the new Elder Care/Work Balance discussion group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bringingeldercarehome and let us know!

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 on line at www.bringingeldercarehome.com or by calling 508-854-0431.

"Very well written with very good resources listed. The section on assessing our situations and recognizing if we are cut out to be a caregiver was excellent. I will order more of your books for my own "Professional" caregivers, that it may help them in working with the family members of our patients."

--- Linda Jones, RN, CEO, Health Care Partners, Inc., Southfield, MI

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