New Study Confirms Need for Eldercare Benefits

This month, we would like to share the results of a new study from the MetLife Mature Market Institute, which sheds new light on the extent to which the challenges of family caregivers impact the American workplace.

Caregivers Are More Likely To Report Health Problems

If you are responsible for taking care of an elderly relative or friend, it will likely impact your health and your employer's bottom line. Employees in the U.S. who are caring for an older relative are more likely to report health problems like depression, diabetes, hypertension or heart disease, costing employers an estimated average 8% per year, or $13.4 billion annually, in healthcare costs, according to the MetLife Study of Working Caregivers and Employer Health Care Costs.

The report, produced by the MetLife Mature Market Institute with the National Alliance for Caregiving in conjunction with the University of Pittsburgh Institute of Aging, also found that younger caregivers (ages 18 to 39) cost their employers 11% more for health care than non-caregivers, and male caregivers cost an additional 18%. It also found that eldercare may be closely associated with high-risk behaviors like smoking and alcohol consumption. Exacerbating the potential impact to employers is the possibility that these medical conditions may also lead to disability-related absences.

The MetLife report was drawn from an analysis of 17,000 employees of a major multinational U.S. corporation who completed health risk assessment questionnaires (HRA). Twelve percent of the respondents were caregivers for an older person.

Employers Benefit By Supporting Caregivers

"While this news may be distressing, our research points out that coordination of eldercare services and wellness initiatives may open new avenues of innovation to benefit both employees and employers," said Sandra Timmermann, Ed.D., director of the MetLife Mature Market Institute. "Employers can provide support to their employees and, at the same time, reduce their health care costs by anticipating and responding to the challenges of eldercare."

According to Gail Hunt, president and CEO of the National Alliance for Caregiving, "Caregivers have more unplanned absences. Their performance on the job is also compromised by a lack of focus on their work due to distractions, like phone calls and care coordination, that occupy their time. They need solutions so they can be healthier and perform better."

To meet the health care needs of caregivers while reducing the associated costs, employers should consider integrating their wellness and eldercare programs. In addition to practices like flexible hours, paid time off (PTO) and telecommuting, the report contains suggestions to connect their employees who are caregivers with wellness programs that will reduce their stress, positively impact their health and provide needed support. These include:

• stress-reduction seminars expanded to include on-site yoga and exercise classes, relaxation techniques and massage therapy
• decision-support systems providing information about available services
• financial incentives to encourage participation in preventive benefits offered by employers (like premium reductions for those who obtain annual physicals, mammograms, Pap tests, attend smoking cessation classes and exercise)
• expanded on-site medical screenings
• free legal and financial advice, especially pertaining to Medicare, Medicaid and insurance.

Source: The MetLife Mature Market Institute, the National Alliance for Caregiving and the University of Pittsburgh Institute on Aging. Visit the MetLife Mature Market Institute website to download the entire MetLife Study of Working Caregivers and Employer Health Care Costs.