The Caregiving Crisis:
What It Costs Your Business and How You Can Fix It
In my new book (The Caregiving Crisis: What It Costs Your Business and How You Can Fix It), I:
- Outline the drivers and magnitude of the Caregiving Crisis and how it impacts companies
- Provide a clear pathway forward for companies to mitigate the risk of caregiver-related costs such as productivity and turnover, and even future healthcare costs
- Encourage leadership that reinforces the virtuous cycle of content, training and development, technology, coaching and care coordination
This is a book about taking deliberate actions one step at a time as you proactively address the challenge of supporting employee caregivers - a situation that is definitely worsening.
You'll learn how to support your employee caregivers in practical, cost-effective ways, incorporating and harmonizing with other ongoing programs (i.e., DEI, burnout prevention, financial planning, etc.).
With the practical steps and tools provided inside these pages, you'll be well equipped to lead or contribute to your company's initiatives to build and sustain a caregiver-friendly workplace.
As a business leader and an employee, I have personally experienced the turmoil that caring for loved ones creates in both work and personal life.
When I first heard the news that my mom had been diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer, I was overwhelmed with conflicting emotions - including what would happen with my own career.
But there was no question in my mind about how it was going to play out … I had seen my great grandmother, two grandmothers and one grandfather die in institutions, and I knew I would help Mom die at home as she wished. I also wanted to create a future in which I knew I had given her that gift.
At the time, I didn't even know the term "caregiver," and it took everything my sisters and I had to make it happen. Because we had a good plan and stayed open and honest with each other, we were able to live Mom's final months and days with joy and proactivity.
With accommodation and cooperation, both my company and I were able to manage through this situation. But it wasn't at all easy, and we all felt negative effects - physically, emotionally, and even financially.
My experience compelled me to dig deeper into the underpinnings of The Caregiving Crisis, and how companies can create their own brighter futures by fostering caregiver-friendly workplaces for the growing and increasingly diverse number of employees who serve as family caregivers to aging adults.
