St. Louis Program Addresses Workplace Caregiving Issues

March 24, 2003
The initiatives of St. Andrew's At-Home Services' Caring Workplace Program in St. Louis will be among the 20 outstanding success stories honored at the sixth annual What's Right With The Region! awards celebration May 8.

The Caring Workplace program was created to address the fact that caregivers in the workplace are creating a unique and escalating challenge for American businesses. It is a challenge that is estimated nationally to cost up to $29 billion annually in lost productivity, worker replacement, absenteeism and other consequences of employees focusing more on their caregiving duties than on their work. St. Andrew's At-Home Services' foresight prompted them to take the initiative to address this issue in Corporate St. Louis by securing a federal grant for a program that is the first of its kind.

The Caring Workplace program has enlisted some of the top names among St. Louis companies, including Monsanto, Brown Shoe, Emerson Motors, Webster Groves School District, SSM St. Joseph Hospital of Kirkwood, St. Andrew's Resources for Seniors, National Imagery and Mapping Agency, Sunnen Products, Stifel-Nicolaus, UniGroup, Martiz and St. Louis Post-Dispatch to assist in their endeavor of finding workable solutions for caregivers in the workplace.

The Caring Workplace program is currently developing and testing various models for providing employed caregivers with cost-effective eldercare services that allows family caregivers to provide quality care while remaining on the job as productive and committed employees.

The Caring Workplace program has reached over 1,500 employees by offering them one-on-one assessments and counseling services at the worksite or in their homes, onsite support groups, educational seminars and access to community resources and information for internal dissemination that helps these working caregivers to realize that they are not facing this issue alone.

Just two years into this three-year program, The Caring Workplace has helped to spotlight the unique challenges of caregiving for the 16,700 employees at the companies involved, and helped to enhance the quality of life for hundreds of employed caregivers who are seeking support through the program, while raising awareness about this issue community wide.

"We are honored to be recognized by such a reputable organization here in our community and thank all of our participating businesses for their role in getting the Caring Workplace off to such a great start," stated Ann Bannes, the vice-president of St. Andrew's At-Home Services. "We are very excited about the success of the Caring Workplace program thus far and look forward to moving full speed ahead to accomplish all that we set out to do with the program."

FOCUS St. Louis is a non-profit organization dedicated to creating a thriving, cooperative region by engaging citizens to participate in active leadership roles and to influence positive community change.

For more information regarding the Caring Workplace program call (314) 726-5766 or visit St. Andrew's At-Home Services' Caring Workplace program on-line at www.caringworkplace.com. St. Andrew's At-Home Services is a private, non-profit organization that is a division of St. Andrew's Resources for Seniors. The organization has provided nurturing care and support of lifestyle choices to older adults and their families since 1961.