This year, U.S. President Joseph Biden proclaimed November 2023 as "National Family Caregivers Month." This comes on the heels of an executive order earlier this year focused on increasing access to high-quality care and supporting caregivers.
There is a rising number of workers balancing work and caregiving. According to a Harvard Business School study, 73 percent of employees in the United States currently care for a child, parent, or friend. There is also a subset of caregivers growing in the workforce that are feeling the impact of their newly acquired roles: the sandwich generation. Currently, an estimated 23% of adults in the United States are part of it — caught between the demands of caring for an aging relative and their own children.
Women are disproportionally impacted as they are more likely to take a primary caregiving role, and the growing dearth of both child and elder care options and cost is leading to additional stress, resulting in many women forgoing their jobs. Workplaces need to prioritize supporting the mental health of caregivers in their workforce.
Ways HR Leaders Can Support the Mental Health of Caregivers in Their Workforce
During the pandemic, Mind Share Partners and Culture Amp convened leaders from their organizations and others for a panel discussing ways to support caregivers' mental health work during the pandemic. As this need grows, many of the lessons shared by the panel still apply today, including:
Leaders can model vulnerability by sharing their own experiences as professionals and caregivers, and/or model healthy working practices and clear communications that encourage and create safety for those experiencing challenges to ask for support without fearing repercussions.
Listen to your workers because there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Parents, caregivers for older adults, and those in the sandwich generation all face unique challenges. Take the time to survey and talk with each group and hear their challenges. Listening and then taking action based on your workers' needs signals that you care.
Create flexibility where possible. Be proactive in discussing communication and working norms, and figure out what works best for your team.
Adjust the benefits you offer. At Mind Share Partners, we offer benefits that expand to various subgroups of caregivers, including. paid parental leave, paid medical leave (that includes caring for loved ones), paid PTO, and a remote environment with schedule flexibility.
Below, Mind Share Partners has compiled an additional list of resources for HR and People teams to support parents and caregivers and individual resources for these employees.
I. Resources for HR & People Leaders Supporting Parents and Caregivers
[Article] "The impact of caregiving on the Sandwich Generation–and employers," Care.com, What employers need to know about Sandwich Generation caregivers and the impact on workplace productivity.
[Article] "Struggling Caregivers Find New Support From Employee Resource Groups," Wall Street Journal, Many employees say they need a place to share experiences, get resources and push for new benefits
[Article] “How HR Teams Can Support Working Parents,” Lattice A 4-item listicle outlining basic strategies to support parents (most applicable to caregiving generally).
[Report] “A Guide to Balancing Work and Caregiving Obligations” Canadian Human Rights Commission While it addresses Canada specifically, the guide outlines helpful strategies on how to talk to an employee about caregiving needs, strategies to support caregivers and ideas for flexible working arrangements, and a follow-up process to ensure that any arrangement continues to be helpful and effective.
[Article] “Caregiving,” American Psychiatric Association This page outlines best practices and strategies to support caregivers of those managing a mental health condition based on a study of 17 employers including Aetna, CBS Corporation, Intel, and more.
[Article] “More Workers Than You Realize Are Caregivers,” SHRM This page provides an overview of the prevalence of caregiving/caregivers in the workforce, how it impacts employee work-life balance and starting strategies to better support caregivers in your workforce.
[Slide Deck] “Negotiating Accommodations at the Workplace: Perspectives of Human Resource Professionals and Parents of Children with Mental Health Disorders,” Portland State University School of Social Work This slide deck outlines key topics for supporting caregivers of children with mental health condition/s, such as work flexibility, navigating disclosure, stigma, and more. It also provides enlightening quotes by parents and HR professionals on their own experiences with navigating caregiving conversations, employee performance, and workplace supports.
[Report] “For the Benefit of All: How Organizations Win When They Recognize and Support Caregivers and Employees with Disabilities” Voya Financial, Inc. This report shares key survey findings that cover the impact of caregiving on employee behavior, wellbeing, and productivity (p.5) as well as a variety of policy-, benefit-, and culture-related strategies to support them (p.9).
[Report] “Taking Care of Caregivers: Why corporate America should support employees who give their hearts and souls to those in need.” Cariloop, Facebook, and Chicken Soup for the Soul This 2018 report outlines national trends around caregiving and key strategies for supporting caregivers in the workplace.
II. Articles for Working Parents & Caregivers
[Article] “Challenges and Resources for Sandwich Generation Caregivers,” Meet Caregivers: A list including awareness, education, and national resources for those in the sandwich generation.
[Article] “Self-Care for Parents of Children with Mental Health Needs,” Nationwide Children's: A list article of best practices for parents and caregivers to support their own mental health.
Article] “Managing Transitions,” The Psychology Foundation of Canada: Daily transitions can be stressful for working parents and their children. One of the toughest of all transitions is “up and out” in the morning. Here are some tips that may be helpful.
[Article] “Letter To Working Mothers: Stop Feeling So Guilty,” Forbes: An open letter to working mom's who feel guilty that work is stopping them from doing enough, giving enough and being enough for their kids.
[Article] “Supporting Kids Through the COVID-19 Crisis,” Childmind.org: Tips for nurturing and protecting children at home.
[Article] "How To Ask What Kids Are Feeling," Childmind.org: Ways to get insight into how your kids are handling stressful times.
[Article] "Taking Care of Yourself" NAMI Suggestions for personalizing your self-care strategy as a parent/caregiver.
[Article] "Caregiver Support Resources for You and Your Loved One" Military OneSource
III. Organizations and Resources for Parents and Caregivers
[Organization] Family Caregiver Alliance The mission of Family Caregiver Alliance (FCA) is to improve the quality of life for family caregivers and the people who receive their care.
[Organization] Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion Created a resource finder page to help caregivers get support.
[Organization] National Federation of Families for Children’s Mental Health The National Federation of Families for Children’s Mental Health is a s a national family-run organization focused on the issues of children and youth with emotional, behavioral, or mental health needs and their families.
[Organization] Child Mind Institute The Child Mind Institute is committed to finding effective treatments for childhood psychiatric and learning disorders, building the science of healthy brain development, and empowering children and their families with help, hope, and answers.
[Organization] NAMI Family Support Group NAMI Family Support Group is a peer-led support group for any adult with a loved one who has experienced symptoms of a mental health condition.
[Organization] Caregiver Action Network (CAN) Caregiver Action Network works to improve the quality of life for Americans who care for loved ones with chronic conditions, disabilities, diseases, or the frailties of old age.
IV. Resources for Mental Health ERGs (or Affinity Groups)
Mind Share Partners has created resources for employee resource groups (ERGs) focused on mental health, neurodiversity, ability, etc. These resources include:
[Toolkit] "How to Create a Mental Health ERG" Toolkit, Mind Share Partners
[Article] "How to Form a Mental Health Employee Resource Group," Harvard Business Review
[Resource] Virtual Community for Mental Health ERGs, Mind Share Partners A free Slack community and ongoing resources for leaders of mental health ERGs — and other types of ERGs that want to infuse the topic of mental health at work into their conversations— from over 400+ companies.