Seven percent opt to work fewer hours, and 10 percent take early retirement or quit their jobs. Employers can help. Large companies such as Medtronic and 3M increasingly provide information on nursing homes, home health aides and long-term care insurance via the company intranet. Noon classes or even a table with pamphlets are more affordable for small companies. Pearson charges a dollar per employee per month for what he calls his total solution.
Employees consult with a masters-level clinician who has a background in gerontology.
CareQuest sends a registered nurse to see the aging parent and determine what services he or she needs. Ten percent of employees who have access to the service actually use it, Pearson says. That's more than triple the use for most elder care programs at a workplace. Some experts say elder care will make child care look easy by comparison. This is the next big work-life issue.