Soar to Success July 2018

SOAR TO SUCCESS -XO\ )HDWXUH $UWLFOH PDQXIDFWXULQJ ĆUP arriving several minutes late, again. Her supervisor has been more than supportive of the personal demands on her time outside RI WKH RIĆFH EXW there are limits. Heidi is always in a state of constant worry, that her employer will grow weary of her tardiness and be forced to let her go. Heidi’s commitment to her in-laws is a strain for her and the family, but it also costs her employer lost productivity. There are over 65 million familycaregiversquietlycaring for loved ones with Alzheimer’s or dementia, or mental, emotional andphysical disabilities in theUnited States. The overwhelming responsibility can EH YHU\ GLIĆFXOW DQG HPRWLRQDOO\ ZHDULQJ RQ the caregiver. Without some type of support, the caregiver may end up with his or her own failing health caused by stress, guilt, anger and depression. The Elder Care Cliff Talk to Stella Nsong, RN, CMC, CDP, LTCP, for any amount of time and you’ll discover she is passionate about warning individuals, families and corporations about the Elder Care Cliff as well asworking to create Elder CareWorkplace Programs to help employees like Heidi, which has the side effect of boosting the productivity DQG SURĆWDELOLW\ RI WKH FRUSRUDWLRQV ZKHUH they work. What is the Elder Care Cliff? Stella relates it to a few years back when there was fear and SXEOLFLW\ DERXW WKH ĆQDQFLDO FOLII 7KH FRXQWU\ was worried about what was going to happen. According to her, with the attention put on that, most people actually forgot that there is an Elder Care Cliff looming. Of course, people are aware of the aging of America and the impact on social security and our health care system. However, according to Stella, we need to also look at the personal part of this crisis. There are already millions of people in similar situations to Heidi which means we’ll be facing the Elder Care Cliff sooner than the year 2030, which is when the government and general public predicts it will happen. The stress of care-giving is affecting people economically, physically, mentally and emotionally, right now. There are only so many hours in a day and a caregiver’s time is constantly stretched to WKH PD[LPXP 2QH RI WKH ĆUVW WKLQJV WKDW suffers is the caregiver’s employer, because