Balancing work and caregiving can easily take a toll on wellbeing. New findings show that nearly 40 percent of caregivers report high levels of burnout.

As caregivers juggle around-the-clock responsibilities with few clear boundaries, feelings of overwhelm and exhaustion can quickly become chronic. At the same time, access to quality, affordable childcare remains a challenge for many, while flexible work arrangements–though advantageous–can further blur the boundaries between work and home life.

To help prevent burnout, caregivers need support that’s as comprehensive as their needs. With Child and Family Wellbeing employees gain access to the expert guidance and personalized support they need to navigate their dual roles with greater confidence and peace of mind.

In an all-new episode of Wellbeing at Work, VP and General Manager of Emerging Solutions Sarah Wood joins Marketing Specialist Emily Morgan to discuss the rising prevalence of burnout among today’s caregivers and explore what organizations can do to provide targeted support.

Read an excerpt from their conversation below:

Emily: I know Workplace Options developed a dedicated solution, the Child and Family wellbeing program, to offer targeted support to working caregivers and their families. Can you talk a little more about the program—how it works, and how it resolves and may even prevent issues such as burnout?

Sarah: Definitely. Great question, Emily.

This is such an incredible program because it’s multi-tiered and it’s meant to support both the children as well as the parents. It is a parent-led program, so the parents initiate contact with the program and undergo a pediatric assessment with our counselor, who speaks with them to get a holistic picture of what the family is experiencing: Has there been a change in the family system? Is there an acute situation unfolding? This could be anything from a blended family due to divorce or remarriage, or perhaps a move. Perhaps a child is being bullied at school or struggling with a transition to a new environment.

The situations and families we help are limitless, and there are many different ways this program can serve them. But through that assessment, we’re going to get an understanding of what’s going on, and then tailor that support to their needs.

In terms of the support that we offer, one of the things we provide is access to counseling sessions. These are pediatric or family counseling sessions, depending on what’s most appropriate for the situation. This is fantastic because a lot of times, parents don’t fully understand what’s going on with their child’s wellbeing. They rely on the internet to help them become experts, but without that counseling background or specialization, they can’t bridge that gap and provide the therapeutic intervention their child needs. So this allows families to catch warning signs early, set up proactive support systems, learn new ways to interact and cope, and open up communication channels. So that’s very empowering both for the child and for the parents or caregivers as well.

In addition to that, we also provide pediatric case management, which further helps close that gap in communication. So even if the child is receiving counseling without the parent, that case manager can still provide tips and tricks for the parents to use at home based on goals that are established in therapy—all while still respecting the child’s privacy. So it’s empowering them with education and it’s also giving them that direct resource.

This is also great because for a lot of families, they don’t know where to start with counseling. Do I need to go to my pediatrician? Do I need to go to a counseling center? If I don’t have insurance, how do I pay for this? What’s so amazing about this service is that those sessions are actually going to be covered by the employer and be able to provide the intervention that’s needed.

We also want to focus on the parent themselves and being able to support them with their needs. So if this is tied in with a larger EAP program, we’ll be able to connect that parent with the counseling they might need to deal with their immediate burnout. Maybe that involves learning some mindfulness tricks or it might be using some other therapeutic technique to help them work through their feelings of overwhelm. But we also have a practical component that can come in, which involves resource coaching and referrals.

Something I hear so often from friends and loved ones—and something we hear a lot from working caregivers in general—is “Something happened and I don’t even know where to begin.” “How do I know what the right daycare is?” “How do I know what the right way to bond with my stepchild is?” or “How do I talk to my child who’s experiencing bullying at school?” So what we do is we listen and provide coaching, but then also help locate resources and put a family plan in place.

As an example, maybe someone’s overwhelmed because they’re looking to have their child tested for autism and don’t know where to start. Already, there’s options—you can go to a developmental pediatrician, or you could go to a community-based clinic that does testing. Once you get that testing and receive a diagnosis, then there are questions about what supports are needed. Do you need to speak with the child’s teachers, pediatrician—maybe there’s a counselor involved. What do you need to talk about within those conversations? Also: What types of services would best benefit your child? Is that occupational therapy and speech therapy?  

So part of what we do is we’ll sit and go through those questions with caregivers and help them determine the right course of action for their family. Then we’ll find local resources for those actions, and wrap them up in a package and send them back to the parents so they’ll have everything they need right at their fingerprints. They won’t have to scour the internet all day looking for answers. Instead, we’re able to take that mental load off parents’ plate and say, “Here’s three options for occupational and speech therapists in your area that do this.” “Here are three to five developmental pediatricians in your area that take your insurance, and here’s their availability.” “Here’s information on the community clinic that can do this, and their waitlists and information.” “I checked with your school system and you’re going to want to talk to the guidance counselor.” 

So it’s really all about cutting through the noise and giving parents and caregivers a sense of direction, and then coming up with a plan together and holding them accountable. “Hey, I sent all that information a couple weeks ago, just checking back in with you. What do you want to do next? Have you had success? How’s it going?” And maybe there are more needs, and then we can once again help reduce that mental load.

Lastly, we can also talk through preventive plans. As a parent of young children myself, I can attest that when childcare falls through and you have two working parents, it can be extremely stressful. And so even thinking through, “Hey, I may not have a need right now, but can you help me find backup childcare in case mine ever falls through?” or “I need help planning for the summer.” There are just some other ways we can take that load off parents’ plate. So there’s a lot of different layers on how this program can be used.

Emily: Absolutely. That was a lot of really important information—thank you so much for sharing. 

Now that we’ve talked about the benefits for the individual and their families, I want to move on to the benefits for the employer. For organizations weighing whether to invest in targeted support for their working caregivers, what would you say are some of the benefits and costs of inaction? 

Sarah: I think the question isn’t whether to invest—but whether your organization can afford not to… 

Interested in hearing the rest of the conversation? Tune in now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or on our podcasts page. Be sure to visit our webpage for more information about Child and Family Wellbeing, or connect with us to learn more about our services.