Caregiving is undoubtedly the most rewarding task that you can do in life but at the same time it is also the hardest job. While there are several who chose the job of becoming a caregiver at a rather young age, but they all have enough company these days as the job of caregiving is becoming increasingly common. As per an AARP Caregiving report which was released in the month of June, 56.8 million adults in America worked as unpaid caregivers and most of them served as caregivers to adults who were aged 50 years and more.
Besides the short period of swell during the time of recession, their figure has held steady during the years and the caregivers these days include young adults and more men. In fact, the AARP found that a quarter of the caregivers are millennials. As more and more baby boomers age into their golden years, there will be a soar in the number of caregivers as predicted by the experts.
The growing demand of caregiving jobs
If you thought caregiving is just hands-on care, you’re wrong as there’s more to it than just that. 10% of the baby boomers, 15% of Generation X and 20% of the millennials are all supporting either of their parents financially. Among them 35% claimed that they also play the role of a caregiver to their parents apart from offering financial support. The associate director of Pew Research Center, Juliana Menasce Horowitz said that there is a strong combination of people who are living longer, getting older and who are also not saving money.
According to projections by the Census Bureau, from 2012 to 2050, the size of the American population aged 65 years and above will double. Moreover, the ‘really old’ people, the 85-pluses will triple during that period. Without doubt, it can be said that the need for caregiving is increasing every day. Among the adults aged 50-55, 85% are presently at the risk of requiring care either for an in-law or for a parent for various health concerns. Despite this statistic, paid care is something that is totally out of reach for many.
Dementia care costs businesses more than $1.6 billion in a year
A study done by the Alzheimer’s Society Campaign said that around 50,000 staff will quit their jobs as they won’t be able to take the strain of juggling between their jobs and that of being a dementia care giver. Even more, 66,000 staff will probably curb their working hours due to the same reason. Dementia is a brain disease which shows rapid progression and this means that the workers who are working with dementia will be forced to take early retirement. Businesses would henceforth choose to offer a wide array of support to their staff members who are playing the role of a caregiver for some parent who is living with Alzheimer’s.
9 among 10 companies are either letting or they’re thinking of letting the caregivers work for flexible hours. More than half of the companies offer a wide range of support like working from remote locations (54%), taking an extended leave (64%) and counseling services (52%). 28% would choose to pay for respite care as found by the Center of Economics and Business Research.
Senior care businesses to start in 2019
We can’t forget the 80 million baby boomers that are going to turn 60. According to an AARP study, people who are 45 years and older, spent $5.87 trillion, which accounted for around 55% of the consumer dollars that were spent in America. This is a huge market and the senior generation is a rather powerful one. Let’s check out the few senior care businesses that you can start this 2019.
#1: SENIOR CARE CONSULTANT
When it is time to move out of your ‘home sweet home’, the last thing that you would wish to deal with is the nitty-gritty details. A senior care consultant will assist the seniors to find out the best possible environment where the seniors spend their golden years and they also work to ease off the transition that the seniors face when they enter new surroundings and this can be a rather invaluable service for the people who have lifetime of memories to wade through.
#2: NON-MEDICAL SENIOR HOME CARE
As the seniors of the present times are the youngest than ever, most of them wish to seek help of the stay-at-home alternatives. When this population finds it difficult to go out of their house, the non-medical home care people can bring the community inside their homes. Even in the years to come, non-medical care is certainly going to be something really huge. Apart from financial resources, the most common requirement for the seniors is social interaction. When someone helps rekindle the social interaction, nothing can be better than this.
#3: SENIOR CLOTHING AND PRODUCTS
Maintaining the dignity of the seniors is the ultimate goal of their caregivers. There are several catalog sales companies which specialize in accessories and apparels for those who require dressing assistance. Seniors need soft but durable fabrics with back and side openings and jumpsuits for dementia and Alzheimer’s patients who are prone to undressing. If you’re an entrepreneur who is reading this post, you should keep in mind that women and men shop differently. Men are more practical as they look for basic colors. Women, on the other hand, regardless of their age, want to feel good in their clothes.
#4: SENIOR MEAL DELIVERY
If you consider the caregivers, what the seniors eat is always on the top of their mind. Caregivers always ensure that the seniors eat healthily and also regularly. You can therefore start a business where you deliver healthy, fresh meals for an amount which is less than $20 in a day. There are such delivery agencies like Murphy’s Good Measure which started off in the year 2003. These businesses send agents who help the seniors by delivering nutritious meals to their home. The average American seniors who are not able to cook their own meals can get help from such options.
#5: SENIOR CONCIERGE
When you’re limited and restrained by your imagination, this is the right business idea for you. How about starting off with a concierge service for seniors where you could bring services to the home and escorted transportation, depending on what your client demands? As the seniors get less mobile with time, they dream of getting different types of services done at home. There are several kinds of services like beautician services, mobile vets, dry cleaning or domestic help services which can make the lives of the seniors easier. Moreover, this also lets them utilize their disposable income.
Becoming a home caregiver
It goes without mentioning that home caregivers are those who usually cater to the personal requirements of the seniors like helping them with dressing, bathing, cooking, accompanying them to a doctor, transportation needs and much more. Though the needs are absolute, yet they’re simple! With the current trend of children moving out of their homes for better job prospective in another country, majority of the elderly parents are left behind alone. Even if they have adults in their home, they’re not able to take care of them. What sort of qualifications do you need to become a caregiver?
As expected, the qualifications that you need to become a caregiver are relatively simple. Just like you take care of yourself, you have to be able to take proper care of someone else. You’ve got to be organized, take out time and give in your best efforts. There are some countries where you may require going through a licensing test so that your clients find you more credible and this license may also become important for you in the near future.
The usual fees that are charged are somewhere between $15 and $25 per hour, depending on the references that you can give and on the geographical location. The fee schedule for an usual startup business is around $15 per hour and after spending one year with this fee type, it is generally hiked up to $20 per hour.
Are you thinking of the costs of starting a caregiving office? You’ll be relieved to know that few caregiver offices are located outside a home office and hence the total cost of a startup would be related directly to the business. This would include business documents and forms like invoices/work order and business cards.
Firstly, you should do a bit of online research on the plethora of services that you’d like to offer, then develop your offering, print out a brochure which tells about your services and distribute among people. You may also seek help of the online directories as this can get pretty cheap. Good ones can deliver several clients in a month.
Hence, as the caregiving industry is eventually expanding, you can certainly nurture the idea of starting off with a caregiving business of your own. Keep in mind the above listed ideas before embarking on this journey.