Practical Tips for Elder Care
(Page 1 of 3)
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.
NOTE: Under Federal Law, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is prohibited from ranking, endorsing, or promoting agencies or organizations listed on its website.
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