The following library is curated by our members to aid organizations in supporting the family caregivers they employ.
If you have any questions for the Coalition, please submit an inquiry through our contact form and a member of our team will get in touch with you.
The Massachusetts Caregiver Coalition Documents:
The Massachusetts Employer Toolkit and Caregiver Survey:
Coalition Webinars:
- May 7, 2020: Supporting Family Caregivers During COVID-19
- May 27, 2020: Caring for the Caregiver: Addressing Anxiety & Burnout during COVID-19
- June 26, 2020: Addressing Caregiver Challenges Associated with Alzheimer’s & Dementia during COVID-19
- October 8, 2020: The Innovation Ecosystem: Solutions for Family Caregivers
- November 19, 2020: Caring for the Caregiver – Why Employers Should Care
- September 23, 2021: Supporting Family Caregivers – Employer Responses to the COVID Pandemic
Reports:
- Valuing the Invaluable: 2023 Update Strengthening Supports for Family Caregivers, AARP – March 2023. In 2021, about 38 million family caregivers in the United States provided an estimated 36 billion hours of care to an adult with limitations in daily activities. The estimated economic value of their unpaid contributions was approximately $600 billion.
- 2023 ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE FACTS AND FIGURES, Alzheimer’s Association – March 2023. More than 1 in 9 seniors in the United States is living with Alzheimer’s disease, and the number of people affected is expected to double over the next two decades, rising to 13 million in 2050. An estimated 6.7 million Americans age 65 and older are living with Alzheimer’s dementia in 2023. Seventy-three percent are age 75 or older.
- 2022 Cost of Caregiving to Massachusetts Employers - The increased turnover, absenteeism, and presenteeism cost employers in Massachusetts an estimated $2.1 billion per year. See also 2017 report.
- The 2022 National Strategy to Support Family Caregivers was delivered to Congress in September 2022. It was created to support family caregivers of all ages, from youth to grandparents, and regardless of where they live or what caregiving looks like for them and their loved ones. The strategy includes nearly 350 actions the federal government will take to support family caregivers in the coming year and more than 150 actions that can be adopted at other levels of government and across the private sector to begin to build a system that ensures family caregivers have the resources they need to maintain their own health, well-being, and financial security while providing crucial support for others. Starting Oct. 1, the strategy is open to public comment: acl.gov/CaregiverStrategy/Comments.
- Supporting Employee Caregivers Starts with Better Data (April 2022) – The Harvard Business Review reports that most employers remain in the dark on how many of their workers are caring for others at home and provides four actions business leaders can take to close this data gap. The authors note that companies must collectively begin tracking caregiving status in order to design targeted interventions to retain and improve the productivity and engagement levels of their caregiving employees.
- Shining a Spotlight on Caregiving: Employer Practices Through a Policy Lens (November 2021) - The Global Coalition on Aging’s new report links 21st century employer benefits to a new social contract for how to meet growing employee needs in our aging society. The report, sponsored by Bank of America, underscores the sensitive, challenging, and difficult balancing acts between work and care.
- Caregiving in a Diverse America: Beginning to Understand the Systemic Challenges Facing Family Caregivers (November 2021) - This report by the National Alliance of Caregiving (NAC), through sponsorship by Amgen, Inc. and with support from the Diverse Elders Coalition and in partnership with the National Minority Quality Forum, highlights significant disparities in support, caregiving intensity, health, and financial impacts among caregivers of color, LGBTQ caregivers, as well as caregivers across different income brackets and geographical areas. The report expands on the diverse experiences of family caregivers and provides important policy recommendations to help aid family caregivers in their important tasks.
- Working While Caring: A National Survey of Caregiver Stress in the U.S. Workforce (Sep. 2021) – The Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregivers (RCI), released Working While Caring: A National Survey of Caregiver Stress in the U.S. Workforce. The survey revealed that one-in-five full-time workers is a caregiver, providing care on a regular basis for a family member or friend who is aging, has a serious illness, or has a disability. Many must go to part-time status or quit altogether due to caregiving responsibilities.
- Lessons From the Workplace: Caregiving During COVID-19 (Oct 2021) – A cultural shift writ large, or at least an opening for it, came calling in early 2020 when COVID-19 turned the world—and the workplace--on its head. As millions fell sick and workers lost crucial supports—school, daycare and eldercare, home health assistance, babysitting grandparents—caregiving became almost everyone’s crisis. Employers couldn’t staff shifts. Employees (largely women) reduced their hours or abandoned jobs in staggering numbers so they could care for loved ones.
- Recognize, Assist, Include, Support, & Engage (RAISE) Family Caregivers Act: Initial Report to Congress (Sep. 2021) - On September 22, 2021, the RAISE Family Caregiving Advisory Council released its initial report to Congress. This report outlines the challenges faced by family caregivers, federal programs currently available to support them, and provides 26 recommendations for better supporting family caregivers.
- The Caring Company - The report offers recommendations for employers about ways that they can develop a culture of caregiving to support their employees and alleviate associated costs.
- Caregiving in the U.S. 2020 - The AARP/The National Alliance of Caregivers Report found that that six in 10 caregivers report working while caregiving and 61% have experienced at least one work-related impact. One in 10 working caregivers have had to give up work entirely or retire early to fully handle their caregiving responsibilities.
- Care.com: Future of Benefits - A HR Guide to what’s next for employee benefits. While employers had seen statistics demonstrating that juggling work and care responsibilities adversely affects productivity, retention, absenteeism, and employee health, the pandemic has brought that to the forefront with unprecedented clarity.
- AARP Family Caregiving: Supporting Employee Caregivers During the Pandemic - The AARP Family Caregiving team developed a list of action steps employers can take during the COVD-19 pandemic to continue supporting their employees who are caregivers through this unique time.
- EMD Serono Global Carer Well-Being Index - The COVID pandemic has caused substantial disruption for unpaid carers around the world, in ways that put their economic, physical and psychological well-being at risk.
Research:
- Mental Health Among Parents of Children Aged <18 Years and Unpaid Caregivers of Adults During the COVID-19 Pandemic (March 2021) - Among 10,444 U.S. adults surveyed during December 6–27, 2020, and February 16–March 8, 2021, parents, unpaid caregivers of adults, and parents-caregivers (persons in both roles) had significantly worse mental health than adults not in these roles, including five times the odds of any adverse mental health symptoms (parents-caregivers).
COVID-19 Specific Resources:
- How Crisis Impacts the Way We Care - Understanding COVID-19’s Impact on Family Caregivers & Lessons for Future Challenges March 2021
- Alz.org: Tips for Dementia Caregivers - 24/7 Helpline 800-272-3900
- Balancing Work and Elder Care Through the Coronavirus Crisis
- Boston company supports caregivers navigating COVID-19 with loved ones
Articles:
- Unpaid Family Caregivers Workforce Burden Grows - Boston Globe
- Unpaid family caregivers try to keep up in a pandemic world - WGBH YouTube
- Mental Health Worsens For Parents, Other Unpaid Caregivers During COVID-19 : Shots - Health News : NPR
- Leaders in Business, Health Care, Education & Government Launch New “Massachusetts Caregiver Coalition”
- The Most Impactful Role You Will Have, That You Never Apply For
- The Power of Connection: Caregiving in a Global Pandemic
- TIME'S UP Care Economy Business Council - The intertwined health, economic, and racial justice crises of the last year have forced over two million women out of the labor force and tens of millions more to curtail their hours, pass on new professional opportunities, and sustain untenable levels of stress while working and caregiving to support themselves and their families.
Other Resources:
American Cancer Society