Family structures and employment conditions have evolved from the traditional approach for most families, where a family member (usually a woman) managed household responsibilities including care for children, and for aging relatives and sometimes friends along with family members with a disability.

In the latter half of the 20th century, women began to move out of the home and into the workforce. This is what CareWise Solutions refers to as the 1st Wave of Care.

This created the beginnings of a caregiving evolution that continues today.

Social, cultural, family role, workforce, financial and other changes combined to drive evolutionary change to the way we care for the elderly and the disabled – as well as for children.

With women entering the workforce in large numbers, they soon faced the dual work and life roles that still plague caregivers who are also employees. These dual care-work roles are a great burden for most employee-caregivers and is only slowly becoming recognized by policy makers, lawmakers and employers – along with healthcare, home care service providers, family members and of course the caregivers themselves.

Today, ballooning aging care needs and the motivation of 90% of baby boomers who expect to care at home – a critical mass of employees now experiences intense care and work conflicts accompanied by various associated impacts such as low productivity, job insecurity, stress, anxiety and morale issues – along with mental health and financial vulnerability. employee-caregivers are emerging as perhaps the most vulnerable group of employees.

Employers and care ecosystem participants have been slow to understand the breadth and depth of these challenges exacerbated by the evolution of an institution-based, healthcare-dominated ,system of care in the USA.

It’s past time that employers and care providers understand that work and care conflicts can no longer be solved with “individual” family care solutions. Current healthcare, home care and employment “solutions” reportedly leave caregivers facing increasingly complicated and demanding caregiving tasks without the skills, knowledge and financial supports needed to do the job imposed on them.

Unfortunately, the care evolution now extends into the 21st century with little change in service delivery models and dual employment challenges on the horizon. It is more of the same!

This is no longer a women’s issue as the healthcare and employee caregiving crisis crosses every pay grade, job titles, gender, ethnicity, and zip code. About 40% of caregivers and are now male for example.

The one thing that hasn’t changed in the last 30-40 years is that men and women employee-caregivers find that increased work and care conflicts result in even lower quality of life and care. This is exaggerated for people of color and underserved communities. 

We are currently stuck in the 2nd Wave of Care, and CareWise Solutions Inc. is making it a priority to provide the vision and associated solutions for a third wave evolution. We believe that addressing the employment caregiving crisis as separate from, but intersecting with, the Healthcare crisis is paramount.

In the analysis that follows we do a deeper dive into these issues and associated challenges, and explain them as three waves of chronical, evolutionary caregiving change.

 WHAT DRIVES THE 3RD WAVE OF CARE EVOLUTION

In addressing what CareWise Solutions calls the Three Waves of Care, we present a view of the future of aligned healthcare and family care systems within an expanded ecosystem of family care.

This emerging ecosystem includes recognition of the important “third force” role that employers and employee-caregivers play in this 3rd Wave ecosystem. The principles that drive the 3rd Wave evolution include:

• Without adequate employee-caregiver services, caregivers cannot work. There aren’t enough hours in the day to juggle dual employment for the average 5.5 years that aged care caregivers typically provide.
• Without a changed care system and needs-based workplace adaptations, employers will not retain a sustainable workforce.
• Without change, many employees will find their health, job, careers and family commitments impacted beyond breaking point – no win for anyone.
• Without professional home care staff, employees will continue the reliance on leaves of absence and time off the job instead making a positive contribution to the success of the organization and building a career balanced with a healthy role of supported family caring about, not for the ones they love.
• Without modernized, seamless care insurance policy, aging family will lose their life savings and employee-caregivers will sacrifice their own earnings paying for aging family expenses.

THE 3 WAVES OF CARE WORKSHOP SERIES SHIFTS THE UNDERSTANDING AND ATTITUDES OF EMPLOYED CAREGIVERS AND THEIR MANAGERS. AS A RESULT, TEAMS WORK TOGETHER MORE EFFECTIVELY, EFFICIENTLY, AND WITH HIGHER ENGAGEMENT LEVELS. CONTACT US FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE 3 WAVES OF CARE WORKSHOP SERIES TODAY.