What is Senior Care Advantage?

Senior Care Advantage is a solution you can offer your clients to support their employees dealing with elder care issues. Here is what is included:

• A family questionnaire that will help pinpoint the primary issue(s) specific to the elder;
• A face to face session with a geriatric care manager to discuss the options and goals;
• A consultative summary that will pinpoint the primary issue(s), assess eligibility for public programs and provide specific recommendations and resources;
• A company, Senior Care Management, that has 20 years experience in geriatric care management and helping caregivers just like your employees. (to top)

Why should I as an employer offer Senior Care Advantage to my employees?

As baby boomers near retirement age, a new kind of employee is emerging. Collectively known as the “shrinking workforce,” this group increasingly can and does make career decisions based on quality of life issues. Total compensation packages may be secondary to a company’s perceived family-friendly culture.

Employers recognize that lost productivity due to family-related demands must be addressed. In fact, benefit managers cite work-life balance initiatives as their “single most important priority” in terms of benefit strategies.

Eldercare now tops childcare as a major employee concern. Yet, only a very small percentage of companies offer long-term care referral services, caregiver guides or other decision support services. (to top)

How may people are really dealing with eldercare issues?

According to the U.S. Administration on Aging, 65% of seniors with chronic disabilities rely on family and friends for assistance. At least one person out of every four U.S. households provides some support for an ailing family member. Typically the average caregiver is female, 46, married and working outside the home. In fact, of the almost 26 million family caregivers in the U.S, 80% work outside the home.

These caregivers shoulder many roles while assisting the ill or incapacitated senior relative, neighbor or friend. Not only do they provide most of the daily hands-on care, but they also serve as chauffeurs, legal counsels, proxy decision-makers and healthcare advocates. The hours necessary to accomplish these monumental responsibilities often creep into work time. (to top)

What does a geriatric care manager do?

After an assessment of the senior relative’s needs and the family’s concerns, a geriatric care manager will develop a consultative plan that pinpoints the primary issues and recommends appropriate services and supports. Outside the scope of the Senior Care Advantage product, the care manager can do everything from coordinate services, referrals and appointments to continue monitoring the older adult and intervening when circumstances change. Most importantly, the care manager becomes the frail senior’s advocate as well as the point person for family members living at a distance. (to top)

Who is Senior Care Management?

Senior Care Management has been assisting fragile seniors and their families in Central New Jersey and Bucks County, Pennsylvania for over 15 years. Employing a philosophy of compassion and respect, Senior Care Management helps the whole family unit develop a quality of life balance that attends to the needs of the elder relative while supporting the family caregivers. (to top)

What does Senior Care Advantage cost?

Pricing is based on the number of estimated cases per specific employer and/or union group. Estimates typically show 3% of any employee population will need this type of service. Rates start as low as $300 and coverage can last for up to 2 full years. Unlike per member per month products, you are not paying for people who will not use the product. (to top)

What are eldercare issues costing my company?

Research conducted by MetLife Mature Market Institute, National Alliance for Caregiving, and AARP show working elder caregivers are responsible for:

• US businesses losing between $11.4 billion and $29 billion in retention, absenteeism and productivity due to elder caregiving.
• Late arrivals and/or early departures from work.
• Missed days of work due to caregiving responsibilities.
• Work interruptions.
• High incidence of need to take unpaid leave of absences.
• On-the-job accidents and mistakes (i.e., workers comp claims).
• Deferred promotions and/or re-locations.
• Reduced personal productivity.
• Replacement costs (recruitment and retention issues).
• Supervisory Costs (indirect expense). (to top)