Study finds high satisfaction levels with new state temporary caregiver insurance

SOUTH KINGSTOWN – High levels of satisfaction have been found among Rhode Islanders who took advantage of the state’s new temporary caregiver insurance to take care of a new child or an elderly or ill family member, according to University of Rhode Island researchers.

However, the researchers, according to a news release, found that out of 900 individuals polled, 49 percent said they were unaware of the program.

The release said 51 percent of those who knew about the program were aware of how it could be used, but were less aware of how the program is funded and the level of wage replacement. And, only 9 percent of respondents found out about the program through their doctors.

The survey launched in February, which was the one-year anniversary of the temporary caregiver program. It was funded by a $161,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Labor to the state Department of Labor and Training, which hired URI to conduct the research.

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Rhode Island is one of only three states that offers a temporary caregiver insurance program, and approximately 4,000 Rhode Islanders have participated, the release said.

The state agency has been awarded another $235,000 grant for further study, which again will be conducted by the URI research team. This study will examine where the awareness gaps are, and why the program is not used as much to take care of seriously ill family members, including elders. The funding also will be used to develop and launch new outreach programs targeted at underserved populations.

“We will be marketing the program to employees and employers, and encourage them to use temporary caregiver insurance,” Barb Silver, assistant research professor of psychology at URI’s Schmidt Labor Research Center, said in a statement.
Silver was one of three researchers who conducted the study.

“We may especially target physicians’ offices given that so few people heard about the program from their doctors. We want to make sure people know they can use this leave program to care for ill family members as well,” she said.

Said fellow researcher Emilia Djurdjevic, an assistant professor of management at the College of Business Administration, “We also have work to do to educate people about the wage replacement aspect of this program. Participants receive 60 percent of their wages during the four weeks they might use the program. They should also know that they don’t have to use the four weeks consecutively.”

Another researcher, Helen Mederer, professor of sociology, said the purpose of the program is to have effective caregivers and workers.

“Our research also showed that participants feel less stress, report better health, provide better care to their loved ones and transition back to work more easily because of the program. We know that all of these relate to improved health outcomes, which means less cost for our health care system and less absenteeism at work. There is such a societal impact here. We cannot afford to treat workers just as working drones,” Mederer said.

To participate in the recent survey, respondents had to have experienced a life event in 2014, such as the arrival of a child or a serious illness of a family member.

Approximately 77 percent of those enrolled in the program used it for care of a new child, while only about 23 percent used it for care of an elderly or sick family member.

A sub-sample of participants, polled on satisfaction with the state’s paid leave program for taking care of a new child, showed more than 75 percent were satisfied or very satisfied with the state program compared with 45 percent who took other forms of leave.

On questions about the ability to reorganize their lives, maintain financial stability, arrange childcare, initiate nursing and bond with their child, participants in the state program were much more satisfied than those who took other forms of leave.

Eighty-five percent of those who used the program to take care of an elderly or ill family member said they were satisfied or very satisfied with the level of care they could provide under the state program compared with 71 percent who said they were satisfied or very satisfied with care they could provide under other forms of leave.

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