Covid-19, Informal Care, Mental Health- How Is It All Connected?
Numbers of informal carers have skyrocketed as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak.
It’s no secret that against the backdrop of Covid-19, existing business challenges have intensified and a great deal of new challenges have continued to emerge. However certain groups such as informal carers are often unfortunately overlooked when (in economic terms at least) ‘there’s bigger fish to fry’.
However, more and more people are being thrown into these stressful positions where they are pushed to juggle caring for a loved one with work pressures and of course, personal life, too. Over the past few years the number of informal carers has been steadily climbing. However, the recent outbreak of Covid-19 has caused these numbers to reach higher and higher peaks.
Mental health in decline due to the increased pressures brought on by Covid.
At the moment, around 1 in 4 of the working population are acting as an informal carer to a loved one. The Office for Nation Statistics (ONS) has recently published information stating that following the Coronavirus outbreak, 31% of those providing help or support to others outside their home have reported poor mental health. This is an alarmingly rapid increase from 21% in 2018.
With the combined pressures of working and caring, it is no surprise that there are calls for intervention from employers to provide an integrated support system for their workers.
There are many ways in which poor mental health can impact working life.
When tackling mental health struggles in the workplace there are a seemingly endless string of risk-factors. These include declines in workforce productivity, increased absenteeism and increased risk of burnout, just to name a few. In a recent article, Forbes have stated that 54% of employees stated that they were afraid to discuss mental health with their supervisors. Even worse, 30% even feared it would negatively impact upon their job security!
Whilst this all seems pretty bleak, appropriate support systems can be absolute game-changers. If employees are cared for appropriately, many of these impacts can be diminished and potentially eliminated!
WeMa provides the best care for informal carers
We are WeMa, and we are dedicated to helping businesses to help their employees. Through our dedicated care concierge team and commitment and professional support from our community of service providers, WeMa provides the best care for carers.