Last week, I talked about informal care, the OneAmerica Financial 2024 Caregiver Study, how it might work in my case, and how Asset Care 2024 provides funding for informal care.
If you will recall, 63% of informal care is provided by a family member and 27% comes from their spouse. These stats and more can be found in the OneAmerica Financial 2024 Caregiver Study.
Last week, I shared an example of ability. You know simply the sheer physical strength of one spouse (the caregiver) and their ability, or lack thereof, to offer the support needed. It’s a fact that women tend to be smaller than men, tend to provide care to their spouse at home, and suffer the physical and emotional impact of doing so.
One thing that the OneAmerica Financial 2024 Caregiver Study also noted was the knowledge gap. Simply, people don’t know what they don’t know and this can lead to unfavorable results. In fact, the survey found that 64% of caregivers sought out advice from medical professional and 53% received advice from friends & family members. That says one thing … there is a significant knowledge gap for caregivers.
Granted, people do quickly learn “on the job” but what is the cost that they pay for that knowledge? When I say cost, I do not mean purely in dollars, I mean in the health and relationships of them, the person that they are caring for, and other people in their circle.
The study found that more than half of the participants experienced – frustration, stress, and anxiety (they could elect more than one description for their mental state). And, whether the caregiving was full-time or part-time, the struggles were present.
All of this leads me to this – one reason for developing a plan is to reduce the opportunity for this situation to occur as a reactionary response and improve the reaction for both the caregiver & patient. It starts with future patient devising their plan then sharing it with their family and/or future caregiver. At least, at this point, everyone will be on the same page and the future caregiver will be on notice what is expected of them.
This is one of the reasons that the Care Planning Worksheet (also consumer approved) was developed.
By taking the guesswork and crisis management out of the experience, the future caregiver has a chance at reducing their anxiety, stress, and frustration. Afterall, they knew what the plan was and should have prepared for that day when it would be executed.
And, remember, with Asset Care 2024, when informal care is the option, a caregiver consultant benefit is included with the policy and provides the informal caregiver with the ability to speak with a trained consultant in order to help them provide the support and care that their loved one requires.
If you want to know more about LTC or Asset Care, please contact your BGA, FMO, or IMO. Or, you can speak with my internal Nick Angelov at (844) 623-4251 or nick.angelov.isp@oneamerica.com
Fridays with Fisher 