Rethinking Support for Working Caregivers

Rebika’s Reflections

By Rebika Shaw, Uprise Health CEO

It’s a typical Monday morning in my household:

6:00a Feed and walk the dog

6:45a Roust kid #1 out of bed

7:00a Help kid #2 with a verbal review of a US history test over breakfast

7:20a Check the family calendar and plan school/activity pick-ups and drop-offs with my husband

7:30a Send the kids off to school, and sit down to plan the week’s menu and shopping list with my mom

7:45a Shower and get ready for the day

8:00a Throw in a load of laundry

8:10a Sit at my desk and start a workday of back-to-back calls

My family juggles logistics, shares responsibilities, and cares for each other in a hundred different ways each week, but I am the master planner. I keep track of doctor’s appointments, school events, paper towels, and permission slips. When I am traveling, I leave detailed lists and instructions, put events into the family calendar, and often follow up with text reminders from afar. “Hey kid, don’t forget you have a music lesson at 5 today. Have a great day!” “Hi Mom, remember to call your eye doctor about the follow-up appointment. Love you.”

And what about when things DON’T go according to plan? Well then, all bets are off. A kid got sick? Good luck working on calls while taking short breaks to check their temp every hour. The washing machine broke? Good luck finding repair places and scheduling an appointment for which you must be present. Or hand-washing the bare necessities until you have time for a replacement. Any disruption just adds more burden, and it is usually the primary caregiver who is automatically expected to adapt their schedule to accommodate it.

The Growing Reality of Working Caregivers

I am not alone. Some version of this story plays out in millions of households like ours every day. Caregivers of every kind carry their own responsibilities and shoulder the invisible burden of keeping their families on track. For some, it might look like taking primary responsibility for managing the entire household. For others, it might mean taking on two jobs to fund necessities and kid activities. For yet others, it might mean helping a parent manage their daily activities and health needs.

There are about 60 million working caregivers in the US today – and that number focuses on parents and caregivers to the elderly, which wildly underestimates the care that working professionals provide to their spouses, pets, friends, roommates and other loved ones.

Caregivers aren’t a small or easily defined group. They’re parents, adult children, spouses, family members, and employees trying to care for the people who depend on them. They (we) are everywhere and our social fabric relies heavily on them. We all have received care from them, and many of us have been caregivers for someone at some point in our lives and still are.

When Caregiving Stress Follows Employees to Work

What does this mean for our workforce?

Well, every hour spent calling around for washing machine repair or doctor’s appointments is an hour away from work. Those hours contribute to caregiver stress and ultimately to burnout. The mental load can spiral into more serious mental health issues ranging from anxiety to alcohol misuse. Most employers do have solutions in place to address those issues – therapy for anxiety and stress, resilience tools to combat burnout, or even substance use programs.

But what if we could prevent these issues in the first place? What if we could reduce the mental load up front, reducing the caregiver burden and creating space for caregiver rest and recovery?

That is the intent behind the wraparound caregiver support programs that Uprise Health is building. They are designed to release that pressure valve while also integrating seamlessly with mental health programs.

Moving Caregiver Support Upstream

Focused on the needs of people like me in the sandwich generation, Uprise ParentHood and Uprise AgeWell offer logistical support to take labor intensive tasks off the caregivers’ plate, while also helping working caregivers get to answers quickly and efficiently. No more 3am searches for “neurologists near [my dad’s town]”, or “is my teen’s moodiness normal or should I be worried?”, or “how to talk to my dad about his final wishes?” Coaches and concierges partner with caregivers to find them resources and guide them through the tough moments.

A More Proactive Approach to Caregiver Support

As a society, our mental health needs continue to grow. We have made great strides in reducing stigma and improving access, but it’s not enough. It’s time for benefit design to move upstream and tackle the most important contributors to burnout and stress.

Our vision is for Uprise ParentHood and Uprise AgeWell to do that work, focusing on the issues people care about most: loved ones and keeping them safe, healthy, and happy.