Project Overview

Maintaining both employment and care work is a major challenge faced by the over 5.6 million employed family carers in Canada, most of whom work full-time. Care-related absenteeism, ‘presenteeism’ and turnover are common, and costs to carers and employers can be substantial. Assistive Technologies (ATs) may offer some solutions to this challenge, but studies on adoption of ATs in Canadian workplaces are rare. Using pulse check surveys, our feasibility study engaged AGE-WELL partners as employers to determine what role they and their carer-employees envision technology playing in supporting employees with family care responsibilities, their willingness to adopt/provide such technologies, and barriers to adoption. Stakeholders met October 18, 2016 to learn findings from the pulse check surveys, hear from a U.K. industry leader, and discuss innovative ideas for creating carer-friendly workplaces in Canada. We learned that there are disconnects between employers and carer-employees about their awareness of and understanding about family care as a workplace issue and their beliefs about the use of ATs at work to manage employees’ dual roles. Carer-employees identified several barriers to using ATs that inform product development, including not thinking the person they care for would accept ATs, not knowing what ATs are currently available, and not having enough time to learn how to use ATs. Concerted efforts are also required to bridge the gap between employers and carer-employees to create carer-friendly workplaces, including adopting ATs in the workplace that help carers streamline or reduce care demands, communicate more effectively with care network members, reduce stress and where possible, work remotely.