FRANKLIN, Tenn. (WTVF) — Juggling work, family, and caregiving is a daily reality for many Tennesseans, with nearly 60% of caregivers also holding down paid jobs.
According to AARP, more than 1.5 million people in Tennessee, three in 10 adults, are family caregivers. An AARP survey found that many caregivers are forced to stop saving, dip into their savings, or take on debt. Some even struggle to keep up with bills, and many people use paid time off and sick leave to care for loved ones.
“We’re going to find in the next few years there are going to be substantially more caregivers and we need to be prepared with the people structure and the infrastructure to make sure that’s ready to go,” Mia McNeil, AARP’s state director, said.
The personal cost
The demands of caregiving often take a toll on the physical or mental health of the caregivers themselves.
In Columbia, Roger Lange’s wife, Donnalynn Pellegrini-Lange, knows the exhaustion of caregiving firsthand. Roger was seriously injured fighting in the war in Afghanistan. At first, the couple managed his neurological injuries on their own.
“It was hard because I had to do everything, and I wasn’t a PT, I wasn’t an OT. I didn’t know how to help him,” Donnalynn said.
Donnalynn shouldered most of his care for about a decade, but the constant demands became overwhelming.
“You don’t have like me time. There are times there is resentment because you’re like I really wanted to do that, but I know that I can’t,” Pellegrini-Lange said.
Now, three days a week, a certified nursing assistant or a professional caregiver comes by to lighten the load so the couple can focus on each other.
“When people take marriage vows, I don’t think you realize what they mean until you’re in a situation like this,” Pellegrini-Lange said.
Local solutions
As the need for home care grows across Tennessee, some local businesses are trying new approaches to meet it. Assisting Hands based in Franklin is taking a gamble with an on-demand program that offers no minimum hours and sometimes provides care the same day.
“It is a little bit of a risk. But if it’s what’s going to help families, we’re willing to take that on,” owner Mandy Jerin said.
Assisting Hands operates with locally managed teams and W‑2 employed caregivers who are trained, insured, and supported by the Franklin-based leadership team.
This year, a new policy allows state government employees to use six weeks of paid leave to support a parent, spouse, child, or grandchild in hospice care.
AARP’s state director called the policy a step in the right direction and noted that if more employers offered caregiving leave, it could both support workers and boost productivity.
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