Here are some of the top questions and answers that were discussed:

How important is the role of the employer in preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health for caregivers in our society?

Adam Goldberg: We feel the role of the employer is super important because let's face it, we spend most of our awake hours working. Now, the definition of employer can be different. It can be a big company employee, a small company employee, a gig worker, and so on.

We need to work our way up the "prevention pyramid" — that the RCI report "Caregivers in Crisis" describes — in order to lessen the strain and reduce the cost to the system. That's where there are different stakeholders who stand to benefit from this approach. Unfortunately, RCI asserts that there is not much bold disruptive thinking taking place with caregiver support.

How can employers be bold and disruptive?

Jennifer Olsen: Our Caregivers in Crisis report calls for a more comprehensive look in breaking down the silos in these sectors. You'll hear me using the smoking example if you think about how that applies to this grid. To me, the bold thinking is around the population and individual level.

If we think about smoking, that means your insurer is charging you extra or providing you so many incentives to stop smoking. There's a social climate and challenges around there. It is individuals, your peers and supervisor engaging. And it's that type of thinking across different levels that is necessary.

In order to change this conversation, we have to move caregiving from a bedroom issue to a government or boardroom issue. There are three elements. First is sharing stories and having conversations. Second is a report to examine caregivers in your organization. For example, think of a colleague who in her out of office email explains it's because of their caregiver responsibilities that they will be out of the office that day. And third, shifts you've made because of the pandemic. Which of those you're going to keep, change, or cut and how will those affect the caregivers in your employee base.

Where are some companies making mistakes with employee caregivers?

Grace Whiting: One thing I think employers don't put enough focus on is investing in information and resources that can be helpful to family members. When we look at this in our caregiving in the U.S. study, we see six out of 10 caregivers are in the workforce. So when they're looking for information, they're looking for legal information or information on services that can take on some activity of care like transportation or helping someone at home.

We have this idea that paid family leave is the end all be all. But that's not congruent with the caregiving experience. So many caregivers say work provides them with meaning and purpose, gives them a sense of identity. Employers should not just be thinking about paid leave, but thinking about how they might be able to incorporate a great AIP program, a basket of services to support employees in their workforce. I think the recognition that caregivers often have their own career goals and they don't want to be sidelined from their jobs because they're caregivers for someone in their life.

What are some of the other social determinants of caregiving that impact caregiver effectiveness and the positive outcomes for caregivers?

Grace Whiting: A couple of things we've been thinking about, are one the needs of diverse caregivers. We're working on a secondary analysis of our caregiving in the U.S. data set with Dartmouth. We are looking at the needs of caregivers who may be African American, Black American, Latino, Asian American, or may identify as LGBTQ.

I think particularly this year as we've been having these conversations around social justice, there's been an undercurrent of that conversation in healthcare. Particularly when you look at COVID‑19 and the disproportionate impact for communities of color.

My comfort level was coming out of the office. My comfort level as an essential worker having to go back into the home. I think diversity, equity, and inclusion is a key part of this effectiveness.

Recognizing that different cultures and families are going to view caregiving differently. And their own awareness of caregiving is going to be different.

The other one I would say is access to the internet and connectivity. We sometimes assume the only people who have trouble getting access to the internet are in rural areas. As we move to a world that's online, whether it's your job or telehealth, people need access to the internet.

That's part of the determinant on whether or not someone can be effective.

Carolyn Romano: So we've talked a number of times about how important awareness is as we try to flatten the caregiver crisis curve. And awareness can be helped by everyone taking some ownership and responsibility for sharing your caregiver story.

We all have them. We'll all continue to have them. Look for opportunities at work and in life to share your caregiving story with your colleagues and team. Especially if you're in a leadership role. Sharing from that perspective can do so much to support the culture shift at your company.

Read more:

• Caregiving a growing priority for more employers
• How to prepare for the new era of caregiving
• Addressing the caregiver crisis in the workforce