Caring for elderly relatives often leads to lost productivity in workplace

by Ann Bucy

SBJ Contributing Writer

Eleven point four billion dollars.

That's how much employers are losing each year because their employees are missing work or leaving the job site early to take care of their elderly parents, according to a Department of Labor study released three years ago.

The aggregate amount is based on such items as absenteeism, the cost of hiring replacement workers, employee health and mental health care and work day interruptions.

Cathy Mulford has been helping her parents for more than eight years while working full-time. She also helped take care of her grandmother until the woman died recently at the age of 103. Even though Mulford's grandmother was in a nursing home until the time of her death, Mulford said it was important for her to be a part of the older woman's care. Her grandmother suffered from osteoporosis and dementia.

"I saw her almost every day," Mulford said. "I did her laundry, visited her, helped her with her meals and tried to make her comfortable."

Mulford's father is now on the mend, but she has had to take off work to drive him to Kansas City for health related procedures. Her mother is suffering, primarily from osteoarthritis.

"It's hard to focus on your work when you're worrying about an older adult that's having physical ailments and independence issues," Mulford said. "They can't do as much on their own as they used to be able to. So I've taken on the responsibility of helping them by doing their laundry and going to the grocery store with them."

She's at her parents' home weekly and talks to them on the phone every day. "I'm glad to be able to do this," she said. "But it's difficult when you're working full time. I may be needed during the day or have to take some vacation time for their care." She said that while her employer has been understanding about the need to take time off, all businesses will have to look at helping employees with this issue.

"This will affect their (employers') bottom line," Mulford said. "The stress the employees are going through every day effects them mentally at work."

Mulford said she takes care of her parents because she has immediate access to them. Her only sibling, an older brother, lives in St. Louis. According to a study released this year by the Department of Labor, three-fourths of working caregivers are women.

"The first person to take care of someone is a spouse," said Janice McCauley, manager of Cox Health Systems' Senior Advantage Program. "Then the responsibility usually falls to an adult daughter. Women are seen as the nurturers. So having them take care of their parents may seem to be a natural fit. However, men are also beginning to shoulder more of the burden because of shifting roles in families."

The study also found that by the year 2002, approximately 42 percent of working adults will provide some form of elder care. This care can range from doing the grocery shopping to actual physical care.

"When you see that number, 2002, it's a here and now thing," McCauley said. "It makes the information, that almost 50 percent of working adults will provide some form of elder care in less than two years, that much more startling."

According to the 1996 State of the Community's Health Report, researched by the Springfield-Greene County Health Department, the population of those 50 and over in Greene County, will increase by 50 percent over the next 10 years.

"We need to look at the predominant issues facing the senior population," said Harold Bengsch, director of public health and welfare for the Springfield-Greene County Health Department.

He said he believes those issues are nutrition and diet, exercise and educating the public on how to keep the senior adult safe in their own home.

So what are employers doing to offset absenteeism and employees who are distracted because they're worried about their ailing parents? The employees at Drury University have Recovery EAP in Springfield as part of their benefits package. The school is one of a growing number of companies who realize their employees have mental issues that need to be addressed.

The EAP allows the employees, and their dependents, five free sessions a year with a professional therapist.

"The counseling sessions deal with elder issues and relationship issues as well as work related stress, depression, substance abuse, children going through adolescence and marital concerns," said Drury Human Resource Director Barbara Pruett.

The cost to an employee or their dependent who wishes to continue seeing a therapist, is a $15 co-pay for an additional 20 visits per year.

The EAP also gives employees the benefit of a chemical treatment program.

The employee pays a $500 deductible plus 30 percent of the remaining cost. If the total cost of the treatment program is more than $10,500, the most the employee would be out of pocket is $3,500. The employer picks up the remaining cost.

Pruett said she's only heard good things about the EAP.

"The employees seem to like it and say it's been a help to them," she said. "People are using the program more than they did. I think that's due to word of mouth."