In Gurnee, the work of our caregivers is not to be overlooked. Caregiving, a role that can often be physically taxing, emotionally draining and all the while personally rewarding, doesn’t always refer only to those who provide care professionally. When a family member or friend faces a health challenge, adult children and other family members are often first in line to step up and provide assistance in addition to honoring their other day-to-day responsibilities. The results? Caregivers can tend to bite off more than they can chew. 

Guest author John Mills recently shared the results of a recent study by the MetLife Mature Market Institute about the often-overlooked impacts caregiving can have on a person’s physical, mental and emotional wellbeing.  The report examined employees serving as caregivers and found that they are more likely to suffer from health problems like diabetes, high blood pressure and depression than their co-workers.

Some of the key findings in the study include:

• Caregivers have health costs which are 8% higher than people who are not caregivers and cost employers $13.4 billion a year.
• Employees serving as caregivers were more likely to report poor health than their co-workers.  For example, 17% of female employees ages 50 and older who were caregivers reported fair or poor health compared to 9% of non-caregivers.
• Employed caregivers find it difficult to take care of their own health care needs and are less likely to get preventive care such as mammograms, annual physicals and preventive health screenings.
• Caregivers were more likely to engage in high risk behavior that hurt their health like smoking or excessive alcohol use. 
• Absenteeism amongst caregivers is higher.  The study found that 10% of caregivers had missed at least one day of work during the previous two weeks.
• Caregivers report feeling more stress at home than non-caregivers. 

Click here to read the study’s proposed solutions to alleviate caregiver stress and promote continued health and wellbeing.

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