Resources for Caregivers
If caring for family members and loved ones is part of your daily routine, you know the importance of having access to reliable, qualified and cost-effective resources. Your benefits can help with child, adult and elder care.
*NEW* You and your loved ones have access to Wellthy, a caregiving concierge and digital caregiving support solution, as a covered benefit to all benefits-eligible faculty and staff.
Resources
Balancing career, family, and personal life can be challenging, especially if you’re caring for an older loved one’s well-being in addition to your own. That’s why we’re providing you and your loved ones with access to Wellthy, a caregiving support solution, as a covered benefit.
What is Wellthy?
Wellthy’s care solution pairs a suite of digital tools in the Care Dashboard with human-touch support from a Wellthy Care Coordinator who will take on administrative and logistical tasks on your family’s behalf. It also includes Wellthy Community – a peer-to-peer space for family caregivers to connect and exchange knowledge.
How does it work?
Wellthy provides support no matter where you are in your adult/elder caregiving journey. If you need 1:1 assistance from someone who knows the healthcare industry, create a Care Project to get matched with your dedicated Wellthy care expert. Or, if you prefer to use the solution independently, simply create your Wellthy account to leverage self-service tools within the Care Dashboard and explore discussions in Wellthy Community.
Who can Wellthy support? Wellthy is available to help you care for yourself, or any of your loved ones. This means parents, spouses, in-laws, siblings, neighbors, or anyone whose care needs are impacting your day-to-day life.
What can Wellthy help with? Wellthy’s solution is equipped to support any care situation, in any capacity, big or small. This includes tasks related to:
- Medical: Specialized providers, prescriptions, appointments, medical records
- Financial: Social Security, benefits, insurance, tax deductions, grant applications
- Housing: Senior living, moving services, short-term living solutions
- In-Home: Home safety, in-home aides, transportation services, meal delivery
- Legal: Power of attorney, Advance Directives, wills
- Social + Emotional: Support groups, social activities, memory care, respite care
Wellthy is available for all Columbia benefits-eligible faculty and staff.
Employees who are eligible for Columbia medical coverage have 24/7 access to a free and confidential Employee Assistance Program (EAP). Through the EAP, you can:
- Receive short-term counseling on managing adult/elder care, coping with stress, avoiding burnout and more.
- Talk with a specialist who will research care options based on your situation and provide you with feedback within three business days.
- Obtain customized information and referrals to elder and adult care services in your or your loved one’s community.
- Explore elder care options such as assisted living facilities and in-home care.
- Learn about dementia, health care directives and caring from a distance.
Talk About It
Many of us may spend more years caring for elderly parents than raising children. Involve your parents in planning for their future care while they remain able to participate in the discussion.
Benefits-eligible employees have access to United Healthcare's Advocate4Me, a resource to help you, your spouse, dependent children, parents and parents-in-law:
- Find the right doctors, hospitals and other health care providers
- Coordinate care and schedule follow-up visits, facilitate second opinions, transfer X-rays and medical records
- Work with insurance companies to clarify benefits and negotiate billing
- Locate elder care services that fall outside of traditional healthcare coverage, including assisted living and adult day care
For more information, go to the Columbia Advocacy Services page or phone them directly at 800-232-9357.
With Family First, you get digital tools and a confidential, multi-disciplinary team of highly trained experts who will examine your unique caregiving situations, create holistic care plans and provide the resources and guidance needed to make care-related decisions, delivering better outcomes for all.
Visit the MetLife Legal Plans website under Injury & Insurance or call 800-821-6400 to get started. Once on the MetLife website, select Caregiving Support & Resources to be redirected to the Family First landing page. Then connect with your dedicated care expert.
Family First is available exclusively to faculty and staff who are currently enrolled in the MetLife Legal Plans benefit.
Your sitter’s planning a vacation. An out-of-state family member falls ill. Your home health worker switches jobs. When the unexpected occurs and you need immediate access to child- or adult-caregiver resources, use Columbia’s Back-Up Care Advantage Program, provided by Bright Horizons.
As an employee of Columbia, you have access to a variety of resources and support, including:
- Babysitters, nannies and housekeepers
- Elder care
- Center-based child care
You can access this service by calling 1-877-BH-CARES (242-2737) or on the Bright Horizons Back-Up Care webpage. Registration in advance is recommended (Username: columbia; Password: backupcare [case sensitive]).
For more information, including copays for services, visit Columbia's Office of Work/Life’s Back-Up Care page.
Employees may receive information and services from Columbia’s Office of Work/Life, including the School and Child Care Search, the pre-K and Kindergarten Newsletter and the Back-Up Care program. Visit the Work/Life website for more details, programs and events.
In your role as caregiver you may be eligible for a paid or unpaid leave of absence from work. For assistance, contact the CUHR Leave Management Office at [email protected].