WARWICK, Rhode Island – As one New England mom sees her kids off to college this fall, she checks in on her 93-year old father, coordinates arrangements for her 90-year old mother to enter hospice care, and maintains a full-time schedule for her employer.
Employees who find themselves in the “sandwich generation,” a generation of people, typically in their forties or fifties, are today responsible for bringing up their own children and for the care of their aging parents. An estimated 75 percent of these caregivers are women over the age of 50.
In this case, the employee’s elderly mother was in assisted living, specialized for dementia, when she fell and broke her hip. She was hospitalized after surgery then needed a rehab bed in a new facility. At great expense, her original bed at the assisted living was being held while applications were in process for skilled nursing.
The mother then developed cardiac symptoms during rehab which sent her back to hospital then back to rehab. The decision was then made to wait for bed in preferred skilled nursing- a monthly, self-pay rehab bed since Medicare coverage had been exceeded. The employee was in desperate need of advice and assistance throughout the complicated process.
“Caring for aging parents can create tremendous stress for an employee,” said Judith Hoffman. “Besides the obvious emotional toll, the logistics of maneuvering through the healthcare system and obtaining specialized support can often impact employee job performance.”
RIEAS specializes in eldercare matters by assisting employees with an action plan and access to important resources in the family member’s area including in-home assessments, day care and nursing care, Meals on Wheels, senior living, legal and financial consultation, long term care facilities, and case management resources.
In order to serve clients with eldercare resource needs both locally and out of state, RIEAS partners with North Carolina-based Workplace Options for child, elder and other dependent care services and for legal and financial consultation.
About RIEAP, Inc.
Established in 1985, RIEAP, Inc. is comprised of two divisions, RI Employee Assistance Services (RIEAS) and RI Student Assistance Services (RISAS). Its mission is to deliver responsive, respectful and comprehensive services that help employees, family members and students with the problems of life that interfere with their well-being and their ability to perform their best at work and/or in school.
RIEAS serves over 180 employers in forty states, Canada and Mexico. RISAS currently has a student assistance counselor embedded in 44 schools and serves 6,000 students. For more information, visit http://www.rieas.com/, on Facebook at RI Employee Assistance Services and Twitter @_RIEAS.
More of the population seems to be part of the “Sandwich Generation” and the care givers are the ones who may be stressed the most. Particularly when Early Memory Loss can be part the family history. Does REAIS approach lifestyle or folate-rich diet options to the participants?
RIEAS provides employee assistance services, such as eldercare support, to the employees of client employers. The organization provides these resources based on individual needs of the employee and their family. Therefore, if lifestyle or nutritional resources are deemed necessary, RIEAS will provide the appropriate access to those options. Thank you for your question, Amalie.