A February 21 report from the CDC shows that nearly 1 in 5 family caregivers may be in fair or poor health–and it's likely gotten worse. (Photo: Shutterstock)

The issue of paid family leave has certainly garnered the attention of organizations and the government during COVID-19. But to quote from a recent article: "ending the conversation about caregiver support on paid leave would fall short of effectively supporting employee caregivers. From a caregiver's perspective, paid leave should be the tip of the iceberg when offering support to caregivers."

Health providers have had a bad track record when it comes to caring for the family caregiver. A recent national study in JAMA found that while most caregivers reported that older adults' health care workers always or usually listened to them and always or usually asked about their understanding of the older adult's treatments; fewer caregivers reported being always (21.3 percent) or usually (6.9 percent) asked whether they needed help managing older adults' care. Nearly one-half (45.0 percent) were never asked.

Related: Addressing the caregiver crisis in the workforce