Professionals Who Care

The headlines are so powerful and on point, we had to post the picture of it. We at Professionals Who Care hope you agree on its claim. #FutureOfWork #SilentCrisis #CaregiversInTheWorkplace #Inclusivity #Allyship Text Description: Main headline: Millions of workers are also juggling caregiving. Employers need to rethink. Sub-Headline: "Business School report finds rigid hiring policies, work rules, scheduling hurt employees but also productivity, retention, bottom line." By Christina Pazzanese, The Harvard Gazette, October 10, 2024. Read more: https://lnkd.in/gZubB8_a

We at Professionals Who Care are back from our Thanksgiving break and wanted to check in with you all. Whether you were enjoying time with your loved ones, working, or feeling some deeper heartache related to your loved one who needs caregiving (or all of the above)... ...we hope you will be encouraged by today's post: 💚 ➡️ "What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." ⬅️ 💚 (by Henry Stanley Haskins) The compassionate strength of employed caregivers is powerful. We celebrate your resilience and resolve. And we hope that you take a moment to honor your own journey and to recognize the grit and strength within you. #EmployedCaregivers #Caregivers #Resilience #DualRoles #Encouragement Image Description: woman caregiver hugging an elderly lady faded behind quote, with Professionals Who Cares logo of powerful stick figure with dual shadow of person on laptop and person carrying soup.

Cross-posting from other social media for Carson Outler, LAMFT. (Thank you Carson!) Do you say yes to all 3 boxes? Let your experience inform future policies! Scan the QR code or go to https://lnkd.in/eUgGWzq3. #caregiving #caregivers #SandwichGeneration #policy #CaregivingPolicy

We love this shout out for caregiver community by Nicole (Nikki) Nurse. #Caregiving can be isolating! But when you can find moments of #community (we say moments - we know you are busy)… you have a chance to meet the most incredible people. ✅ Take Nikki up on her offer and reach out to her! ✅ Be part of the Professionals Who Care community to connect with others who are balancing both work and caregiving. #caregivers #EmployedCaregivers #carers #CaregivingCommunity #YouAreNotAlone

How would you feel if you had to make the call not to include a family member in travel plans or family gatherings because of their symptoms of dementia? This decision is super common for caregivers over the holidays. It can be heartbreaking and also stir up feelings of self-doubt and a deep sense of guilt, even when it’s truly impossible or clearly not in the person’s best interest to travel or participate in a gathering. I am here to remind caregivers that it is okay to take time for themselves and enjoy this holiday season. To ease this stress, I shared preparatory tips for when someone else is stepping in as a caregiver while they’re away. Here’s what I wrote to them on my social media: 1️⃣ Make sure they know your person’s goal of care – Even if the caregiver isn’t authorized to make medical decisions, they can still be a better advocate when they understand the overall goal: whether it’s prolonging life, focusing on quality of life, or prioritizing comfort. 2️⃣ Give them access to the documents – Ensure the caregiver knows where to find the medication list, as well as important medical order forms like DNR or POLST documents. 3️⃣ Have a contact plan – If you’re aiming to be off the grid, make sure they know how to reach you in a true emergency and preferably another decision-maker or advocate as a back up. If you feel this would be helpful for some of your clients, please feel free to share!

Harvard Business Review "Management Tip of the Day" from yesterday: Support Your Employees with Caregiving Responsibilities. If only there were a nonprofit dedicated to helping achieve this goal... 🔎 🔎 🔎 🤣 "Caregiving is likely impacting your team more than you realize. A recent Harvard Business School study found that 73% of U.S. employees have caregiving responsibilities, yet only 24% of employers recognize its impact on productivity. This disconnect often leads talented employees to leave their roles—especially young professionals. Here’s how you can support your caregiving employees more effectively. "GATHER DATA. Collect information on how caregiving affects your employees. Survey your teams, engage with ERGs, and learn from other companies leading in this area. "BROADEN THE CONVERSATION. Caregiving isn’t just childcare. Show openness to conversations about a range of caregiving responsibilities—from managing a child’s mental health to caring for an ill family member. "REVISE POLICIES AND CULTURE. Create flexible, stigma-free benefits that support caregivers across all demographics. Normalize care leave for everyone. "RECOGNIZE CAREGIVERS' STRENGTHS. Caregivers often excel in empathy, problem-solving, and time management, bringing invaluable skills to the workplace. Acknowledge and reward these skills. "ADVOCATE FOR POLICY CHANGE. Support policies that benefit caregivers broadly, such as paid leave, affordable childcare, and fair scheduling. ✅ This tip is adapted from the linked article by Gretchen Gavett. Review for greater details. Thank you Gretchen for advocacy and guidance! ✅ Follow Professionals Who Care for more tips, news, research, and insights on creating an inclusive workplace for employed caregivers. #Caregivers #Caregiving #EmployedCaregivers #AmazingCaregivers #Inclusivity #Belonging #DEI #HBR

👉🏽 !!! Exact evidence of implementing workplace policies that purposefully hurt marginalized employees the most!!! We at Professionals Who Care cannot overstate the harmful effects from Vivek Ramaswamay’s declaration, incoming co-chair of Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency. He speaks on his goal of decreasing federal workforce by 75%: ➡️ “If you require most of those federal bureaucrats to just say, like normal working Americans, you come to work five days a week, a lot of them won't want to do that.” ➡️ “If you have many voluntary reductions in force of the workforce in the federal government along the way, great. ➡️ That's a good side effect of those policies as well.” ⬅️⬅️ 1. Normal Americans can work remotely. The future is now. 2. The success of remote work was proven during the pandemic. 👉🏽 3. AN EXPRESSED PURPOSE OF REQUIRING IN-PERSON WORK IS TO FORCE EMPLOYEES OUT. 👉🏽 4. Remote work is essential to the well-being for our… - Parents and guardians - Caregivers - Disabled, ill, injured - Neurodivergent - People with limited resources - Others: rural families, military families, people of color, women, & more 👉🏽 5. Using in-person policies to cull your workforce harms your vulnerable employees the most! 👉🏽 6. If it must happen, LAYOFFS SHOULD BE BASED ON PERFORMANCE & BUSINESS NEEDS. Not the ability to sit in a chair at a specific location. Please share! We cannot be complacent when people who already experience marginalization are at greater risk of losing their salary and insurance. #ReductionInWorkforce #RIF #FederalEmployees #RemoteWork #RemoteWork

Dear team members: Change can be hard for us all. Change for caregivers can be especially difficult, as we already tend to have a higher level of unpredictability and stress in life. We are in post-election season. There's a lot of talk right now about proposed changes that would have monumental effects on caregivers and the ones for whom they are caring. #Caregivers who are tuned in on these discussions might be having a range of emotions. We invite you to check in on your caregiving colleagues. It makes a difference for people who often feel alone in their dual caregiving & working roles. With care,💙 Professionals Who Care #Election #Policy #DisabilityPolicy #AgingPolicy #WorkPlaceRights Image Description: Block texts on teal and yellow with logo in corner, and picture of talking colleagues in the background. Text reads: How to be an ally to caregiving team members post-election… The Donald Trump administration is proposing significant changes to schools & special education, insurance, disability & elderly supports, taxes, medical care & research, workplace rights, and more. Caregivers are not a monolith. Our stories of sacrifice and strength unite us. We also have diverse beliefs, experiences, and needs. If you have a caregiving team member, it’s OK to just ask, how are doing? Or say, I have been thinking of you. And maybe, how can I support you? Then listen.

Policy Alert for those who want to be in the know. Incoming appointed Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary, Robert Kennedy Jr, shares his goals in a virtual meeting to “pause” research on drug development and infectious diseases for eight years - in favor of studying only chronic diseases. We #caregivers at Professionals Who Care continually advocate for the health of our loved ones receiving care. We also need to stay healthy ourselves to continue our #caregiving. (We tend to think about this a lot.) Studying chronic diseases is very important, but it does not need to be a choice between chronic diseases and other health needs such as #cancer, #alzheimers, #BirdFlu, etc. 1) We are America. We can study more than one health issue. And we should study all health issues. 2) Research is not a spicket that can be turned on and off. If, for example, you are researching cancer genetics by studying generations of fish in a lab, the entire study and all past and future insights could be ‘flushed down the toilet’ by rescinding funding. (Some medical researchers could also leave the county to continue their work.) 3) Healthy employees have increased productively and improved retention - and reduces the need for caregivers. 4) We invite the new administration to invest in the health of all Americans. #HealthPolicy #BeWell #CaregiverAdvocacy #HealthAdvocacy #LifeIn2025

Check out article to increase support for #caregivers for loved ones - including the two quotes below at the checkmarks. Caregivers face increased costs and decreases earning potential. But it doesn’t always have to be this way. Professionals Who Care believes that if we intentionally design workplaces to be inclusive for caregivers, that caregivers do not need to experience decreased salary and benefits. And it’s good for business and good for us all. We did it during Covid, and there is no reason we cannot make this the #FutureOfWork. ✅ “More than three out of every four family caregivers pay out of their own pockets for care-related expenses such as home modifications, care at home, transportation, and equipment to help with daily living. These costs add up quickly, with caregivers spending an average of more than $7,200 each year out of pocket. Those who live far from their loved ones spend almost double that amount.” ✅ “Additionally, many family caregivers must reduce their work hours or even leave their jobs to care for loved ones, resulting in significant income loss and jeopardizing their career advancement and retirement savings.” Thank you to Sarah Waddle and AARP Indiana for your voice and advocacy. #Inclusivity #BetterWay #FinancialBurden #Caregiver4LO #Caregivers4LOs