Employers: Take care of caretakers

There are more than 5.5 million Americans today living with Alzheimer’s disease (which represents 65-70% of all disease-based dementias).In 2016, 15 million Americans provided 18.2 billion hours of care to people with dementia without compensation. What that means to business owners is that a significant number of your workers are trying to provide care while trying to do their jobs. Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias cost American businesses $61 billion a year, of which $36.5 billion includes costs relating to lost productivity of employees providing care. There are steps the business community can take to help reduce this negative impact. One of the most important things that can be done is to provide education to the caregiving workforce. Education should include information on community resources available to assist caregivers, including things like programs available through disease organizations like the Alzheimer’s Association or community groups like The Friendship Center. “As a business executive, putting employees in a position to succeed is a key element of my job. Alzheimer’s disease presents a challenge to any caregiver, and that challenge is magnified many times over when that caregiver is trying to meet the expectations of his or her outside employer. Helping our employees cope with the challenges they face is simply good for business, and is the right thing to do.”

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