The Benefit Specialists Corp. May 2009 Bulletin
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Celebrating 10 Years of Business!
Thank you for all your support! |
Just a Reminder,
As independent brokers we have the ability to go to any insurance company to get insurance quotes. If you are looking at your group benefit plan (or know of another company who is) and are wondering if you are using your dollars in the most efficient way possible please contact us and we will be happy to discuss this with you.
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Janet Bullard RN, MN, CHPCA(c)
Aging and Health Issues are Stressful and Directly Impact Your Business.
The Evolving Problem:
Our increasing
longevity is a result of advancing technologies, antibiotics and better living
conditions in developed nations. An average lifespan of 47 years in 1900 is now
closer 80 years with women still outliving men by approximately 3-5 years. The
movement of the Baby Boomers into the Senior years is just beginning and
following an already large cohort in their elder years. The most rapidly
growing group in the senior years is the 80 + group, those with the highest
care needs. One in five Canadians is a caregiver. Issues around Employee Parent
Care are often unknown. Some of the history and reasons are as follows:
- Child care is finite and generally accepted
and supported by most employers
- Parent Care is largely stigmatized
and hidden for a variety of
reasons:
- Fear of loss of employment
- Personal embarrassment around
parents declining health and increasing needs
- The social acceptance and
understanding of these issues are only beginning to surface as new
'normal' phenomena.
- Belief that it is a family
responsibility
- Lack of knowledge re: options or
help
- Typical caregiver is a 46 year old
employed female. Males now represent 45% of working caregivers.
- US companies identified the risks
of leaving employee needs for Eldercare unattended and have built Benefits
Programs to address them. A MetLife Study on Balancing Employment and
Eldercare (2003) found that almost 2/3 of caregivers acknowledged an
impact on their career, including:
- Immediate: decreased productivity,
absenteeism, decreased work hours and change in work hours from full-time
to part-time.
- Mid to long term: impact on career
advancement opportunities and moves, early retirement or quitting work
all together, contributions to savings, retirement and pensions.
- Calculate your company costs www.elercarecalcualtor.org
using a conservative Canadian estimate of 17% of employed caregivers in
your company.
The Solution:
Being
proactive, not reactive. The more personalized and comprehensive the work the
more effective it is in maintaining the employee's productivity, presence at
work and their health, stabilizing the work environment.
- Various options include:
- support your employees with simple
resources and referral services
- education; lunch n learns, workshops
and articles
- personalized consultation and
planning work with the employee and their aging parents.
- Parent care differs from childcare
in that the needs will increase over time and become more complex
- Early supports and interventions
will make a critical difference as problems occur or escalate until the
care journey ends in death.
- Support for End of Life and
Bereavement make significant differences in how the employee copes and is
able to manage their work and family life.
- Reduced health claims related to
stress will increase the work presence and contributions and overall
performance of employees
- Reduced health claims can help
control benefits costs upon renewal.
For more
details on this issue and solutions contact:
Janet Bullard RN, MN, CHPCA(c)
403-863-8916
www.proactivehealthcareadvisors.com
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Guest Articles
Entering our tenth year in business we thought it might be a nice idea to include articles from other business experts.We hope to have a variety of authors to bring added value to our bulletins.
This month we are proud to include a guest article from Janet Bullard RN, MN, CHPCA(C).
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Tell your friends!
The Benefit Specialists Corp. is more than willing to answer any questions you or anyone you know may have. If you know someone who has questions regarding the insurance industry or anyone who wants to join our mailing list please contact me, or forward this email to them and get them to click the join our mailing list button below.
Thanks! |
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Sean Murray
The Benefit Specialists Corp. sean.murray@telus.net
403-547-5236
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The information contained in
this bulletin is for general information purposes only. The articles published
in this bulletin have been collected by The Benefit Specialists Corp. (TBSC) and
we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about
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therefore strictly at your own risk. In
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within them
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