The COVID-19 pandemic revealed many challenges for caregivers, with four times as many Americans quitting work to care for adult family members as for children. This has been an issue for decades, and caregivers’ lack of support has compelled individuals to leave the workforce for decades.
The significant concern laid on assisting new parents often overlooks the varied needs of caregivers who care for children, aging relatives or partners with mental health conditions, or people with serious chronic illnesses, especially aging elders.
The European Union made huge breakthroughs by doing away with the issue, especially through the 2019 Directive on Work-Life Balance and the European Care Strategy 2022.
However, Asia-Pacific and the United States lag and may need more economies with available workforces and a productive workforce migrating out of the economy to care for themselves.
Overcoming the mentioned difficulties, caregiver agencies can design new supportive measures for caregivers. Support for caregivers, particularly older adult caregivers, bridges talent gaps, increases retention rates, and boosts productivity for organizations.
Involvement and retention of caregivers are important for not only better quality care and client satisfaction but also maximum support for the long-term success of a home care agency. The following elaborates on this rationale:
The ICA Group estimates that the home healthcare industry will need more than 13 million new caregivers to meet demand by 2024. However, with current turnover rates exceeding 64% (according to Home Health Care News), many agencies need help engaging and retaining their staff.
Knowing why caregivers leave will help build targeted solutions for home care agencies. According to the 2020-2021 HomeCarePulse Survey, here is what caregivers say are the reasons why they’re leaving:
Considering all the opportunities available to caregivers, agencies must reassess their engagement and retention strategies.
Lack of Supportive Infrastructure
Major barriers caregivers face mainly emanate from an inconsequential supportive infrastructure from their employers. Many firms need to monitor the status of their care situation, making it difficult for caregivers to balance their time between professional and caregiving responsibilities. Therefore, Many caregivers are forced to manage their responsibilities when left unsupported, potentially increasing stress and burnout.
Tension and Exhaustion
Caregiving is a demanding task that requires many physical, emotional, and cognitive resources. Due to the caregivers’ pressures to manage their work duties alongside caregiving duties, stress and burnout are common. The burden often becomes unbearable for many caregivers, and even when adequate support does not exist, they may not be able to function optimally in managing their commitments. Stress can affect the job performance and overall well-being.
Lack of Awareness
Caregivers usually need more recognition or support from their employers, managers, or human resource staff. In addition, there is an unawareness of the varied relationships that caregivers have with their care recipients, such as children, elderly relatives, and even friends. This unawareness turns off the care providers’ prospect of gaining the support needed to successfully continue their duties in caring roles.
Unexpected Liabilities
At times, people have to take up the responsibility of caregiving. For example, people may care for an ill relative, a friend, a colleague, or a pet. Such extra responsibilities can make it even more challenging for a caregiver to fulfill other obligations, such as work commitments. In this situation, the caregiver will find it difficult to balance the two roles, and they are likely to feel pressured and stressed.
Pro-actively Engaging
Agencies involving caregivers can offer essential support, enabling these individuals to remain in their positions while alleviating stress. Through meaningful engagement with caregivers, agencies have the opportunity to develop initiatives that assist caregivers in reconciling their caregiving duties with their professional obligations. Such proactive assistance fosters a sense of value and comprehension among caregivers, potentially decreasing turnover rates and enhancing job satisfaction.
Gather Information to Design Support
Some initial activities to help the caregivers include gathering statistics related to their needs. Support programs can be tailored to the specific needs of caregivers, including demographic characteristics and the issues they face in their caregiving role. For example, flexible scheduling or elder-care benefits could help. These minor concessions empower caregivers to uphold their professional commitments while attending to their caregiving obligations.
Open up the lines of communication
Supporting caregivers starts with building an open culture of communication. Encourage the caregivers to deal with issues openly. Through their comfort, they can share tips and not stay in pain; this can further create an avenue for managers to understand how they can effectively support them while engaging in safe and open discussions on the hardships.
Training for Managers
Managers should be assisted to assist caregivers. If managers are not specially trained on the problems that caregivers encounter, they cannot provide much help when necessary. Training managers regarding caregivers’ needs and extending support is a critical source of enhancement. Preparing managers to provide caregiver-helping support and crucial accommodations can create a more positive work environment for caregivers.
Built Caring Networks
Caregivers crave a sense of community and have been known to report being lonely. Caregiver support groups in the workplace offer caregivers an opportunity for connectivity. These groups can afford caregivers emotional support, passing on tips to manage the dual pressures of caregiving and employment and offering practical advice. Caregiver communities help employees feel recognized and not alone in their caregiving endeavors.
Launch Returnship Programs
In most cases, caregivers experience a hard time readapting to work once they decide to leave their jobs temporarily to care for a family member. Returnship programs are very helpful in aiding caregivers in reintroducing themselves to their respective jobs. Returnship programs offer caregivers education and rapid support about the skills they require to regain.
Other than this, returnships enable caregivers to re-enter the workforce gradually in line with their preferred pace. Therefore, returnship programs ease the transition for caregivers and employers.
Relevant Matter
Training for professional caregivers is one of the most effective ways caregivers can be supported, and state accreditation of training that closely corresponds to their respective tasks will be adopted. Learn2Care offers a complete curriculum for the training of homecare caregivers on how to enhance their skills. When the relevant information is provided to caregivers, they will easily manage their work and provide better care.
Learn On-the-Go
Caregivers have very busy lives as they try to do many things simultaneously. Learn2Care has always available training material so the caregiver can learn at his convenience, in transit, or during breaks between duties. With this flexibility, he can find time to learn in hectic schedules and not compromise on other commitments.
Resume Professional Responsibilities with Greater Efficiency
The modules from Learn2Care have been developed short and attention-grabbing. The learning exercises are in bite-sized form, and help transfer the necessary information directly and effectively. This design ensures that after the professional caregiver training, they can quickly return to their professional work after completing the training. Designing it streamlined and interactive would ensure the proper continuation of their education without disturbing their time with clients.
Improve Understanding
The caregiver must always learn to update himself with the newest practices in his field. Learn2Care helps caregivers learn and update them on how things are going in the industry. In this case, by always having ongoing caregiver training sessions, the knowledge available to caregivers improves; therefore, better care is given to their clients.
At Their Own Pace
Everyone learns in unique ways. Some caregivers want to cover their lessons slowly, while others want to do them quickly. Learn2Care allows the caregivers to self-pace their learning. One could pause, resume, or review content at will. This makes learning more of a personal process and, therefore, more effective so that caregivers can acquire the necessary skills.
Become a Certified Caregiver
One of the key benefits associated with Learn2Care is that it allows caregivers to become accredited. Accreditation means that a caregiver is committed to personal development and demonstrates competency in providing quality care. Moreover, accreditation opens up more career opportunities for caregivers than earlier, allowing them to advance within their careers and grow more confident about their competence.
Supporting caregivers is essential for their well-being and homecare agencies’ success. Agencies can take meaningful steps to improve caregiver satisfaction and retention by understanding caregivers’ challenges. Caregiver training solutions like Learn2Care offer training for professional caregivers, support, and flexibility they need to thrive in their roles.With the right tools and strategies, agencies can create a supportive culture that values caregivers and helps them grow professionally. Agencies can ensure caregivers feel empowered and appreciated by offering relevant professional caregiver training, flexible learning options, and a sense of community. In turn, caregivers will be better equipped to provide high-quality care to seniors, and agencies will experience increased productivity and long-term success.
Find your next read and expand your knowledge
Contact us to inquire about our state-wise training courses and take the first step towards upskilling your team with a 14-day free trial!
