Practical Tips for Elder Care
(Page 1 of 3)

• Establishing An Elder Care Support Group
• Nursing Home Checklist
• Selecting a Home Health Care Agency

Establishing An Elder Care Support Group

A Guide for Group Coordinators, Employee Assistance
Program Counselors and Work/Life Managers

As an increasing number of employees face the responsibilities of caring for an aging family member, many employers are searching for ways to help their employees balance the demands of caregiving and work. One effective and useful tool is the work-site support group. Support groups bring together people who have similar concerns or difficulties and enable participants to share personal stories and helpful information. Members often find it comforting to learn that their problems are not unique. Establishing a support group is inexpensive and relatively simple. The information provided below explains how to start a support group in your agency. These suggestions can be modified to suit the needs of your employees.

Employee Needs Assessment:

Establishing a support group should be based on a sufficient employee need and desire for one. One way to determine this is to conduct an employee survey to assess the extent to which employees have elder care responsibilities or concerns and would like agency help meeting them.

Many employees with elder care responsibilities may not even realize that they are caregivers. A needs assessment survey should describe the term "caregiver." Caregivers of the elderly are concerned about or provide assistance to elderly relatives or friends who have physical or mental limitations. Such care may include any number of tasks such as making regular telephone checkups, providing transportation, meals, medical care, or personal care, managing finances, or assisting with shopping and other errands. A survey should emphasize that caregiving includes any support no matter how small the task and may be provided by a caregiver who lives far away from the elderly person. Include questions about anticipated elder care concerns in the near future and employee interest in participating in a support group.

If the survey results reveal an interest in starting a support group, consider the remainder of these steps. Keep in mind that a support group can be as small as five people and may grow as employees learn of its existence.

Support Group Coordinator:

Because attendance at support group meetings may be sporadic at times, the consistent attendance of an employee assistance program (EAP) counselor or work/life manager at the meetings can help to maintain the group. The group coordinator can be  responsible for advertising future group meetings, arranging meeting space, and maintaining a current list of group members and their telephone numbers (see Meeting Time and Place below). An EAP counselor or work/life manager also can offer group members elder care resource and referral information and explain personnel flexibilities available in their agencies that may help employees balance work and caregiving demands.

There also may be interest in starting a support group newsletter that could include newspaper and magazine articles on caregiving and aging issues, resource and referral information, and the date and time of the next support group meeting. A newsletter is especially helpful to members who temporarily lose contact with the group.

If a counselor or work/life manager is not available to attend meetings on a regular basis, a leader may emerge from the group. This individual could be responsible for arranging the meetings or writing a newsletter. These tasks also could be shared by members on a rotating basis. Each group will conduct itself differently.

Meeting Time and Place

Establish the time, place, and frequency of the support group meetings. Generally, employees like to meet at lunch time and will bring their lunches. Participants will decide how often they want to meet.  Usually, a meeting room must be reserved in advance. Contact the agency building services office to find out how to reserve a room. Once a meeting time has been established, advertise the meeting at least two weeks in advance by placing announcements in a location where employees are certain to see them (bulletin boards or employee newsletters, for instance).

Goals/Purposes/Expectations:

It is important to explore what members wish to accomplish at the meetings. Members should discuss the goals of the support group at the first gathering. The goals may change as new members are added or as problems or concerns change. These goals and purposes should be considered each time the group meets. Members also may wish to explain what they hope to gain from attending the meetings.

Confidentiality:

Support group members must agree not to discuss the personal aspects of the meetings they attend. Certainly it is appropriate to share resource information outside the group, but the personal problems and concerns of members should remain private. This agreement of confidentiality should be stated at the first meeting.

Open or Close Ended Group:

Support groups can be open-ended or close-ended. An open group accepts new members at any time while a closed group establishes a group but does not add new members for a specified period of time. The person that establishes the support group may make this decision or the members at the first meeting may decide. An agency elder care support group may be better suited to an open-ended format since many employees experience the onset of elder care problems suddenly.

Resource and Referral Information:

In addition to emotional support, caregivers often need information about elder care resources and services available in the community. As mentioned above, an EAP counselor or work/life manager can often provide such information. However, these professionals may not be readily available to the group on a regular basis or may have limited access to such information.

Employees can call the Eldercare Locator, a toll-free telephone number (1-800-677-1116) operated by the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging, to learn how to contact the appropriate AAA in their parents' or  older person's community. The 670 AAAs located in communities across the United States can help employees locate services for their parents or older persons, even if they live in another State.