More about presenteeism

I can't believe I haven't written in 14 days! Amazing what a few days of snow will do to slow a person...and a business down. We had to postpone a training, and it took an hour and a half to make a 45 minute trip to McLean Hospital to present the research on caregiver education and support to the team on the geriatric unit. It was worth the trip as the team was encouraged by coach Penny and my stories of successful teaching of Alzheimer caregivers. Both Mittelman and Tremont studies show that coaching the caregiver(s)in workable approaches to care delayed long term placement up to 1 1/2 years! That is a savings for the government and helps maintain the comfort of home and family for the person with dementia.
As a company we hope to show research (there is plenty) to large companies with Employee Assistance Programs that offering employees who are caregivers support can benefit the company financially. Research states that when supported and educated about resources, employees are able to improve work productivity by a large margin. When an employee is a caregiver his mind and heart are often not present at the job. We call this presenteeism; the body is there but the spirit is preoccupied with that someone at home who is not able to care for themselves adequately. Leaving early or coming in late as well as making numerous check in phone calls reduces the number of hours the employee is giving to the company. When caregivers who are employed utilize geriatric care managers, one study said, they were more relaxed at work, free from worry, and could give more to the job. Coaches can offer the education needed to 'get mom to the day program' or work with the in home help in a more effective way.
If people know of anyone in a large company like Raytheon, Staples, Fidelity, John Hancock Insurance or the like, let me know. They need to solve the presenteeism problem.