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Care-Giving Affects Workplace Productivity

Business and industry are grappling with a new challenge as caring for the family becomes increasingly complex. With more and more Americans living longer, the number of families responsible for the care of a frail, elderly parent is escalating rapidly. Likewise, terminal illness is no stranger to many families who must care for a loved one who is dying. “The demands of caring for a family member at the end of life are staggering, both emotionally and physically,” said Carol Mahier, Executive Director for Hospice of Southeastern Connecticut.

The U. S. Department of Labor estimates that thirty percent of the current work force has some responsibility for an elderly relative. That figure is expected to rise to an estimated fifty-four percent in the next ten years. Industries throughout the country are beginning to feel the impact. “There is no question that balancing work and family responsibilities takes a tremendous personal toll and ultimately impacts performance,” said Mahier. Research shows that the cost of lost productivity due to caregiving responsibilities is at least 11.4 billion dollars per year.

This growing phenomenon led the Workplace Task Force of Last Acts, a coalition dedicated to improving end-of-life care, to conduct a survey to assess the issues and to make recommendations on how employers can support the working caregiver.

A summary of their recommendations follows:

• Companies should be encouraged to support employees facing end-of-life situations in any way that they can. Three types of help are of the highest priority:
  
  1. Providing information and educational materials that will help caregivers deal with end-of-life tasks and decisions, including making legal and medical decisions as well as finding quality service to help their care recipient.
  
  2. Accommodating employees’ inevitable need to handle caregiving responsibilities during normal work hours.
  
  3. Recognizing employees’ emotional needs and supporting them in any way possible.
  
• In order to be most successful, any end-of-life support activities need to involve employees’ day-to-day supervisors. Gathering information about companies who have effective programs can be helpful in preparing management to help employees
• To keep costs at a minimum, companies should look for “pre-packaged” materials such as information on end-of-life issues or training manuals. OVER
• Companies should look for organizations to partner with such as EAPs or hospice programs to help them implement and deliver needed services.

“As hospice care providers, we guide patients and families through the multitude of issues one must confront at the end of life, and are acutely aware of the extraordinary demands that require attention daily. Both individually and as a society, it is critical that we understand the impact of care-giving and support for those efforts,” said Mahier.

A Message From The Desk Of Dr. Edward Hargus

The American Medical Association, as well as many of the specialty societies in medicine, have recognized the need to advance the practice of quality end of life care. Just imagine your reaction if you were told that you had only six months to live. In our busy days as physicians we often go from the sublime to the mundane. Perhaps in this journey we have gotten tired or really never learned how to deal with these issues. For sure, they were not taught or even discussed during the course of our education.

The AMA is now sponsoring a course called Education for Physicians in End-of–Life Care. At some point in the fall it may be given here at L & M or other locations throughout the state. I encourage all of you who deal with these weighty issues to attend the course. It is about 16 hours in length and would likely be stretched over days or weeks.

The modules are about one hour each and cover:

1. Advanced Care Planning
2. Communicating Bad News
3. Whole Patient Assessment
4. Physician Assisted Suicide
5. Depression, Anxiety, Delirium
6. Pain Management
7. Goals of Care
8. Sudden Illness
9. Medical Futility
10. Common Physical Symptoms
11. Withdrawing or Withholding Treatment
12. Last Hours of Living

There are also four plenary sessions of about one half hour each:

1. Gaps in End-of-Life Care
2. Legal/Ethical Issues
3. Elements and Models of Care
4. Next Steps