Granddaughter on an autumn walk in the park with her grandmother.
Adobe
Over the summer, PBS aired the documentary Caregiving, which delved into the challenges and joys for caregivers in America. The film was executive produced by Bradley Cooper who was inspired by his own experience during his father’s cancer journey.
As former First Lady Rosalynn Carter famously said, “There are only four kinds of people in the world – those who have been caregivers, those who are caregivers, those who will be caregivers, and those who will need caregivers.” Fortunately, more business owners are recognizing and implementing caregiver-friendly policies.
However, caregiving has been a part of life since time immemorial, and caregivers are always navigating challenges and opportunities. Here are three things for business owners to be mindful of this coming year.
1. Legislation
Many lawmakers are also seeing and experiencing the challenges caregivers are facing and trying to offer bipartisan support. On March 11, 2025, U.S. Representatives Linda Sánchez [D-CA] and Mike Carey [R-OH], along with Senators Shelley Moore Capito [R-WV] and Michael Bennet [D-CO], reintroduced the “Credit for Caring Act”, which would create a new tax credit of up to $5,000 for working family caregivers. While it is hard to predict what will happen in this narrowly divided Congress, the bill currently has 63 cosponsors in the House and seven in the Senate.
2. Technology
Technological innovations are assisting with countless aspects of life and caregiving is no exception. You may have heard of areas like FinTech and HealthTech, but there is also AgeTech, which is a category of technology solutions designed to meet the needs of the world’s aging population. These products can include everything from robotics to gaming consoles. In fact, AARP has launched the AgeTech Collaborative to accelerate the development of these tools and offers caregivers and older individuals an opportunity to test them.
Fortunately, there are already a wide range of tools available that you can direct your employees who are also caregivers towards. For example, companies are offering solutions that include care planning, patient navigators, and products and resources to support the wellbeing of patient advocates. If your employees need help getting started, the Stanford Center for Longevity, which is dedicated to making long lives healthy and rewarding, published an article that has compiled these resources for caregivers.
3. Greater Awareness/Resources
While caregiving still can often feel like a lonely experience, there are arguably more resources available now than ever before. Organizations like AARP and your state and local governments have resources available online to help support caregivers, as well business owners implementing policies.
Most people will care for a loved one at some point in their lives while working. For small business owners, it is not only the right thing to do to create supportive workplaces for caregivers, it is a practical way to help both your business and your employees thrive.
