Financial and legal documents are two of the key factors used when making caregiving decisions. Not having these documents can cause a great deal of trauma within families. Surprisingly, a large number of aging adults do not have their financial and legal future arranged, nor do they have their documents organized. When a crisis arises, their adult children are left with lots of questions and few answers. “Does Mom have long term care insurance?” “Where are Dad’s bank accounts?” “Do my parents have wills?” “Who has power of attorney?” “Do Mom and Dad have a financial advisor?”

What Barbara Can Provide for Your Company:

Barbara helps financial and legal institutions develop their connection to caregivers and increase their caregiving customer base by facilitating a “caregiver friendly” branding approach.

• Expand client engagement and loyalty
• Branding awareness — unique
• Family based

What Barbara Can Provide for Your Clients:

For service provider companies such as insurance, banks, legal and financial advisors, Barbara can provide advice and guidance to clients and customers as a value added service. Using formats such as keynotes, webinars, and Lunch-n-Learns, Barbara covers important topics such as Caregiving 101, the documents and information caregivers should have, and what to do in an emergency.

• Essential information
• Solutions to the caregiver pain
• Emotional support
• Preparations across three generations — Sooner than later
• Solutions and Strategies — “Caregiver Tool Kit”

There are seventy-five million caregivers in the United States, and while two-thirds of those caregivers work outside the home, only 22% of corporations have eldercare benefits and EAPs in place to support and educate those workers. Each year companies sacrifice $33.6 billion in lost productivity due to caregiving “presentism”. Corporations need to understand their employee caregivers, implement supportive policies, and create a flexible work environment. Doing so will increase productivity, loyalty, retention, and health-and-well-being. This will increase company profitability.

Caregivers usually work two full-time jobs: one at their “real” work, the other caring for their elderly relatives. Seventeen percent of all caregivers spend at least 40 hours a week providing care. Sixty-two percent of caregiving workers experience changes in their work life, including being late to work, cutting back on hours, giving up vacation time, and even quit their jobs.

Taking Care of the Caregiver in the Workforce Has Many Benefits to Your Company:

• Increased health and well-being
• Increased productivity
• Heightened loyalty and satisfaction
• Decreased costs due to absenteeism, turnover, “presenteeism”

Barbara speaks to human resources professionals and corporate management teams about strategies to enhance EAPs and better support employees who are “stuck in the middle” of caregiving. By providing resources, facilitating support groups, expanding eldercare benefits, and flexible working hours, managers will learn effective ways to assisit their employees. Through webinars and Lunch-N-Learns, Barbara provides essential information and emotional support to employee caregivers in their place of work.

What Barbara Can Provide for Your Employees:

• Diverse information formats — workplace programming
• Caregiving preparation for your employees
• A lifeline to your caregiving employees
• Implementation of change in the workplace
• Emphasizing the benefits of working for your company

Caregiving can be overwhelming. Often thrust into caregiving after a sudden injury or illness to a parent, caregivers are left with questions, frustration, and uncertainty. “Do we bring them to our house or consider other senior housing options?” “Where can I get some help?” “How can I get my siblings to help more?” Barbara presents solutions and advice to these overwhelmed caregivers during keynotes at nursing homes, hospitals, and other healthcare venues. Brought in by the facility to provide a service to patients’ families, Barbara is able to provide a lifeline to caregivers in the form of comradery, advice, and resources. She is also available to speak to healthcare staff about how to support and advise the caregivers and other family members of patients.

What Barbara Can Provide for Your Employees

• Crucial content pertinent to healthcare providers
• Resources and tools
• Essential information
• Help to support patients’ caregiving family members

What Barbara Can Provide for Your Patients/Customers:

• Essential information
• Solutions to caregiver pain
• Emotional support
• Solutions and Strategies—“Caregiver Tool Kit”