Working Caregivers: The Invisible Employees

Balancing Work and Caregiving: A Conversation with Dr. Donna Benton

• Selma Archer & Zack Demopoulos • Season 1 • Episode 13

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Caregiving doesn’t just happen at home—it happens at work, too. In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Donna Benton, the Director of the Family Caregiver Support Center at the University of Southern California, to discuss the often-overlooked challenges faced by working caregivers. With over 28 years of experience, Dr. Benton shares invaluable insights on how workplaces can better support employees who are juggling their careers and caregiving responsibilities.


Episode Highlights:

[1:23] – Welcome to the show! Meet Selma, Zack, and our guest, Dr. Donna Benton.

[2:30] – Dr. Benton shares about her roots in Los Angeles and the diversity of her neighborhood.

[4:24] – The personal journey that led Dr. Benton into caregiver advocacy and research.

[6:57] – How universities like USC are leading the charge in caregiver education and support.

[9:53] – What does a Family Caregiver Resource Center actually do? Dr. Benton explains her day-to-day work.

[13:07] – How employees can access caregiver resources—even if their workplace isn’t offering support.

[15:43] – Can employers nationwide bring in educational workshops for caregivers? (Hint: Yes, and Dr. Benton tells you how!)

[19:36] – Why advocating for the Older Americans Act and work-life balance policies is crucial for working caregivers.

[22:07] – The biggest challenges employers will face in 2025 when it comes to supporting caregivers.

[27:07] – The myth of “vacation time” for caregivers—why we need better workplace policies.

[28:36] – The #1 thing caregivers wish they had known earlier (and what you need to do now).

[31:22] – Our challenge to HR leaders—who will be the first to take action?

 

Links & Resources:

·         Dr. Donna Benton: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donna-benton-74463118/ 

·         USC Family Caregiver Support Center: https://losangelescrc.usc.edu/ 

·         Jason Resendez and the National Alliance for Caregiving (NAC):  https://www.caregiving.org/ 

·         Caregiver Nation Summit by NAC:  https://www.caregivernationsummit.org/ 

·         Rosalynn Carter Quote for Caregivers

·         Liz O'Donnell and Working Daughter website and Facebook:  https://workingdaughter.com/ https://www.facebook.com/workingdaughter/ 

·         Liz O'Donnell and Working Daughter PRIVATE Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/workingdaughter 

Zack challenges their listeners as to who will be the first HR leader to reach out to Dr. Benton and inquire about an educational program for their organization.

Remember to check out our website at invisibleemployeeadvocates.com 

Dr. Donna Benton:

We want to make sure that if we say that this will help you be a more confident caregiver, or help you understand finances or help you with stress, that it actually works and that it's consistent and it works for everyone. So my research is in that area, making sure that we have programs that are practical and impactful. They make a difference in the caregivers life. So I'm not, you know, over here designing programs without the caregivers, I always listen to the I wish I had known. I wish someone had told me, and then we take those wishes and try to turn them into programs. Did you know that in 2020 there were 53 million caregivers in the United States, and by 2025 this number is expected to grow to 62 point 5,000,073% of these caregivers also have a job. They are called Working caregivers, and they are invisible because they don't talk about their caregiving challenges. Working caregivers, the invisible employees is a podcast that will show you how to support working caregivers. Join Selma Archer and Zach Dimopoulos on the working caregivers the invisible employees podcast as they show you how to support working caregivers. Good morning,

Unknown:

good afternoon, good evening. From wherever you are listening, we thank you. This is the working caregivers, the invisible employees podcast. Thanks for being here. I'm Zach demopoulos And I'm Selma Archer. Hey, Selma, how are you? I'm great. I'm excited about our guest today. Oh, well, then let's get right into this. Well, we have with us. Dr Donna Benton, who is the Director of the Family Caregiver Support Center at the University of Southern California, welcome. Dr Benton,

Dr. Donna Benton:

oh, thank you. I'm so glad to be here. Hello. Dr Benton,

Unknown:

well, we are going to pick your brain. Oh, dear.

Dr. Donna Benton:

I hope you have a symbol around

Unknown:

someone with your level of experience in the caregiver space and the advocacy work that you do. We are just thrilled to have you join us and talk about some of those things with us today. So if we can just get started, my first question to you is tell us something interesting about the place where they live.

Dr. Donna Benton:

Okay, well, I'm born and raised in Los Angeles, which tends to be a novelty within my neighborhood in LA. We are, according to all the maps and stuff, we have the most diverse neighborhood in my council district. So we have the most income diversity, ethnic diversity, cultural diversity, food diversity, housing diversity. I mean, it's really interesting that we're kind of a microcosm of the rest of LA. And I actually live in Los Angeles, the city of

Unknown:

night. I don't think I've met very many people that are actually born in LA.

Dr. Donna Benton:

I know, wow. It's really a unique every time I go, it's like, oh, I'm a true native from, yes, a city.

Unknown:

Wow. I was there just a couple of years ago because my daughter in law is from LA, and her parents live there. And I'm just going to do a shout out. It's their anniversary today to my in laws. So Happy Anniversary in laws, but Happy anniversary. Happy anniversary. But I loved I loved LA, and I will have to check out your neighborhood the next time we come, because I'm a big food eater, as you can see. Great. Yeah. So if we can get started with the substance of our conversation, Dr Benton and I had the pleasure of doing some advocacy work on the hill a couple months ago at the National caregiver Summit in Washington, DC. And actually she was, you were, Dr Benton, you were the most experienced caregiver advocate on our team, so we kind of all look to you for guidance and support and helping us calm down our nerves a bit. But I want, I want to ask you, can you just share with us how you got involved in caregiver advocacy and the work that you do. You

Dr. Donna Benton:

know, like many people, it starts personal, having cared for and been a caregiver to grandparents and parents and so I knew over time, I always felt like when I would talk to other people who didn't realize that they were family caregivers, that we needed to pull together, because once I started learning the statistics that one out of every four households probably has caregiving, and that it's really it's common across every culture, every income. Of every ethnic group, every geographic group, that there's more people caring for family members and friends than anybody else who's caring for as we get older. So that's how I got started, is, you know, it starts with the personal, then you kind of learn the demographics, and then you start talking to people. And I realized that family caregivers, because we tend to be invisible, because we're just a mom or if that's my sibling or it's my grandmother, we don't tend to think about ourselves. We think about the person we're caring for, but we don't realize that if we don't care for ourselves, or we do, but we don't really kind of take it to heart as much we don't care for ourselves, we're not going to be there to fulfill the promise that we want, which is to keep that person comfortable, safe, respected in the home. And so that's when I began to think, oh, you know, would be really nice if we did more advocacy and let people know that, yes, you're relying on us, but we are more than assistive devices. We need to be respected, and we need things that will make our lives easier and help us balance our work, which is what this show is about our work with what we want to do for our families, and that it's so common that we need to start to bring it forward. Wow.

Unknown:

That's great. And the beauty of that is that you were able to take your personal, you know, journeys of caregiving, into your work, into the job that you do. That's really unique. That's fantastic. So Dr bett and Selma and I were very happy and privileged to meet you at the caregiver nation Summit, which is hosted by Jason rezandez and the National Alliance for Caregiving. It was our first time. Was that your first time? Or have you been before? Well, this

Dr. Donna Benton:

was my with that group my second time, okay, but I've done advocacy on the hill and locally, you know, in California, a few more times than that.

Unknown:

Well, we really, really were just amazed by the advocacy work that that's being done and the people that we met. I think you were one of three in particular, individuals who were affiliated with universities and that have family caregiver centers in their universities. Can you tell us a little bit more about that? Dr Ben, I mean, why, first of all, does a university feel like they need to do that? And second, why are you associated with and what do you do for them?

Dr. Donna Benton:

You know, that's really wonderful. It's like, why would a university have a family caregiver program. So the USC School of gerontology, which is where our program is located, it really started out because they recognized the importance of their students having really practical experience in the community, and what was going on in the community, even more so when the our program started, and we were one of the first in the nations to be part of a the California Caregiver Resource Centers and the university, as far as the school of gerontology, realized that because there was a focus on dementia, older adults and family caregivers, who are usually younger, but it really went across the lifespan. And that's what Gerontology is about. It's understanding the interaction of the lifespan. The other thing is, when the program started, which was well before I started. You know, the program is going on its 40th year, and I've been there about 28 of those years when it first started, it's also focused on mental health because the of the stress, and that often accompanies some people when they're feeling isolated, alone or depressed because of caregiving, and particularly those who are caring for someone with dementia. So the mental health aspect was very important. And so that's how the school of Gerontology could bring all of the learning that we understood around how to have programs that are really the best for stress management. That's where Gero so there was kind of you would have the practical learning for students we serve all of LA County, and we're able to bring actually, innovative practices to this topic, and also, you know, so we learned, and we could listen back from the community and replicate those practices out in the community. Wow,

Unknown:

and you're thank you for sharing all that. And by the way, 25 plus years, that's incredible. You've been with affiliated with the university. What? What specifically would you say your day to day, year? What you work on? Just a so our listeners can have a better idea. Yeah. So

Dr. Donna Benton:

I'm a associate research professor and the director of the local caregiver. Resource Center in at the in California. But I really work on bringing programs that are what's called evidence based, meaning that if we are helping somebody and we're doing an education program or a training program, we want to make sure that if we say that this will help you be a more confident caregiver, or help you understand finances, or help you with stress, that it actually works and that it's consistent and it works for everyone. So my research is in that area, making sure that we have programs that are practical and impactful. They make a difference in the caregivers life. And then I have to measure that. So there's always evaluation, which is what schools do. You know, we evaluate, and then it helps others replicate it. So if we find something that works or doesn't, because now sometimes we think, Oh, this will work, and then you find out, no, that's really not helping anybody. We want to let people know so that you don't waste money and funds and what's what's the best thing out there. So we've contributed a lot to the research in the field, developing programs and bringing new things to caregivers in the community, across the board and across the lifespan.

Unknown:

So does your just so that I'm clear, does your research at all include issues around the actual care recipient as well? Or just for caregivers, I

Dr. Donna Benton:

tend to focus on the caregiver, because it will transfer over to the care recipient. Okay, so I look at the relationship like, how can you improve communication with the person you're caring for, so that's both people. How can you find better ways to control your sense of frustration so that we don't end up harming the person we're caring for? How do we help our finances and know what kind of programs we can seek out that can help so that we can work and also stretch our funds a little more, because, you know, there's not a lot of funding for a lot of the services that are that are needed. So yeah, we do a lot of different ways. And then what's the best way to get information? You know, we talk to caregivers. Caregivers are part of all of our you know, the researcher in evaluation and program implementation, they tell us what they want. So I'm not, you know, over here designing programs without the caregivers. The caregivers tell us, you know, I wish I always listen to the I wish I had known, I wish someone had told me. And then that's we take those wishes and try to turn them into programs. And

Unknown:

did you say, Dr Benton, that these services, which are amazing because education is is exactly what caregivers are looking and wanting and needing, are these services specific for a geographical area? Is that what you said, or is this? Can anybody tap into these?

Dr. Donna Benton:

Well, you know, times have changed. Unfortunately, more people can get online, and so we've moved a lot of the programs that used to just be in person. We've been able to modify them so that they can be done one on one or in a group online. So we have those programs that work both in person online, but when they're online, anybody can tap in. And

Unknown:

last question again, because we can probably talk about this. I'm fascinated by universities that are focusing on this, putting their resources in this. And USC, 40 years, wow. Hats off. And the transit you've seen, our listeners are usually like HR, managers, leaders, employees. How would someone know about this? Let's just say a California resident who's an employee at company A and their stress and they're dealing with this, and maybe their company's not really on top of this, not sharing. How would they even know to tap into you guys?

Dr. Donna Benton:

That is a challenge if they've recognized that they need help or services. Many times, our referrals are coming through HR departments, so if an HR person knows that, hey, we we have something, you know, like, we have something for child care, but we don't have anything for elder care. They might say, oh, okay, let's call the Caregiver Resource Center. That's how they may know, because it's a statewide program, or let's call the we also have contracts with the area agencies on aging, and they're national, so most of our because we're part affiliated with those area agencies on aging in California, they would give a referral. And so people could get referred that way. We have discharge planners from hospitals, but particularly in working environments, we also offer you. Workshops. So we'll go to, you know, wherever company, we will invite us, and we can do an educational session so that people know that, hey, this is there and you know. So if a company wants to offer a workshop or sponsor, say, you know, we'd love to sponsor a support group for our team members. We'd love to sponsor a two week education program, or we'd love to sponsor this particular training. A company can do that and then that. You know that's kind of would work for helping people in their work environment, because if you have employees who are happy, they'll be more present instead of being present, but not present.

Unknown:

Do your workshops operate on a national level so that employers nationally can access those programs?

Dr. Donna Benton:

If they call,

Unknown:

we call, you will come. Paul will come.

Dr. Donna Benton:

There's a price. But yes, yeah, because we have some funding that are for people who you know, your tax dollars at work, and that's your area, you know, your your triple A's and your your state of California programs. But for companies, certainly, we are more than willing to work with companies to bring workshops that would benefit their employees, employers. Many of the employers are caregivers. There's so many caregivers in at companies who, again, are often very invisible, because sometimes people are afraid to say that they have this, you know, responsibility. People are used to saying, Oh, I'm a you know, I'm a parent, and now, you know, I have to go to an appointment because we have a homework or we have to go to school and and talk to the teacher about something. And employers are kind of used to that, but they're not so used to elder care related issues and having to go to, say, a doctor's appointment or something for your family member who and they may say, oh, but can't your parents do that themselves? Because, you know, it's like, Oh, those are adults. Why do you have to care for them? And so we're used to childcare, but not the kind of elder care. So we have to keep employers aware that just what you're doing for childcare, we would love to see, you know, like we used to have daycares and senior cares that were supported by companies. This

Unknown:

is why the three of us are getting along so well. I mean, you're speaking our language, and invisible is really our driver here to try to help people could become more visible. Just one other quick question, like I said, we could talk about USC all day. This silly question probably, is this program offered to the employees of USC? Are there any Is it a benefit? By any chance? Have you

Dr. Donna Benton:

it's not a benefit. I mean, they can call and we certainly get employees, but USC, unfortunately, does have a good internal HR department that's providing the services that we do, but we also work with them to do workshops. So it's, you know, it's we have that I'm there at USC. They're one of our they're our fiscal sponsor, and they're the one in the School of gerontology. And clearly, we work together. But, you know, they have a very good employee support, and they do. They had an entire caregiver page, and those were in the early days. That's what we helped build and and understand. And then USC has been able to adopt it and expand it across more more people than what we could actually handle for our program.

Unknown:

Some I usually do this at the end of the show, but I got to do this now, if you don't mind, I we like to throw a challenge to our listeners. Here's the challenge that I'm going to throw out there. Who's going to be the first HR leader that reaches out and inquires, no strings attached, no obligation, but inquires about an educational program for their organization. Who's going to be the first one to reach out? Dr Ben said it's a price, but I guarantee it's probably a lot more affordable than you think. Yeah, so, so who's going to be the first and we will put all her contact information in the show notes, absolutely. So just, just a question, stepping back a little bit in terms of the advocacy work, because, you know, you and I worked on the Older Americans Act, advocating for that. Can you just talk a little bit about some of the other, you know, advocacy opportunities that you're involved with? Yeah, on a national level,

Dr. Donna Benton:

sure. So you know, the the Older Americans Act. One of the primary reasons that I was there advocating is that part of the Older Americans Act has what's called the 3e national family caregiver support program, and that's part of the Older Americans Act. So it became very critical that we have passage of that. Peace within the Older Americans Act, along with the full all the other supports, because everything in the Older Americans Act helps both the person who has the disease and the person who's caring for them. And the key pieces we really want to help advocate for, like work, life balance policies and so that's another area that we work very, very hard, like paid family leave, caregiver discrimination, understanding easier ways to get unemployment insurance, things that really help. And then what can you know businesses do to make it a little easier for somebody with flexibilities and work schedules, things like that, and we don't want to have everything legislated, right? So part of the in working with businesses is not everything needs to become a law. But if you work together between the business and understanding what your employees need. Because the one thing is, we want to help you reduce turnover and in a fish and you know, and you can do that by having people that are committed. And we and they found that if there's flexibility when there's good leave policies around any kind of family care, you actually have higher rates of productivity. And for companies, because people are committed, there's not going to be as much turnover, and people are happier, and they also there's more trust built between the employee and the employer. When people understand that we all have some family issues, and you can do that in an equitable way across your employ, all your employees. It impacts, it impacts all age groups, all your employees age, just

Unknown:

like Rosalynn Carter said so. And follow up to what you just what you just stated, What do you see as the major challenge for employers going into 2025

Dr. Donna Benton:

I think the biggest challenge is that they're going to have to find a way to support programs that are both public and private, that they can benefit their employers. So having programs that allow for home and community based services, understanding the importance of those programs for their employees, because it keeps them in the workforce, that's going to be the one of the biggest challenges, because a lot of the safety net programs, if they go away, then people may have to choose between being employed and caring for a loved one, and that's just a choice that nobody should be forced to make. And it happens, and if there are good combinations of public and private support, then you don't have to make that choice,

Unknown:

and that's what you help educate employers on, yes, that's great.

Dr. Donna Benton:

You don't want to force people into a choice like, Oh, I do I have to work or do I have to care for my mom during her last years of life? Yes.

Unknown:

And I got to tell you, unfortunately and especially impacting women, that is more common than than we think. I am part of a shout out to Liz O'Donnell in the working daughter private Facebook group. She has over 10,000 members, and I'm the honorary working dude. I'm allowed to I'm allowed to hang out in with this gang. They've helped me significantly with the with my caregiving, with my mom, and it's a place to vent, it's a place to ask questions, but I got to tell you, Dr Ben, what you just said. I read it, and I just cringe. But there are so many times where a member will say, I had to quit. I can't there's no way I could do my job and take care of this. And I'm financially strapped, and we really, hopefully, got to do better. We got to do better. On that note, and you mentioned this already, Dr Ben childcare, we've come a long way. I'm not going to age us, but Selma and I both worked in corporate in the 80s, where still everyone thinks maternity leave and family medical leave has been around forever, it wasn't and even when it was first introduced, it took forever for it to actually become a law. And then, even then, it took a while for Corporation cultures to adjust to it, right, right? So what with all your experience and tools that you have available? What? What? What could employers be doing like this year to try to speed things up a little bit, because there is a caregiver crisis. It's on the horizon, if not here already, and so just, I don't know, do you have some other suggestions, or what can they do now? Because it's not easy to create a culture of care, right? So I. Well,

Dr. Donna Benton:

I love that, as you said, a culture of care. And I think part of that is businesses can help expand the definition and take away the kind of siloing of only a wife, only a spouse and can be a caregiver or only the adult, child or grandchild. Well, let's just kind of open it up, because we know that it's a family of care. So can't we have care being done because you have a strong relationship? So corporations can take down those artificial who is a caregiver, or who can, you know, be defined as a caregiver, and push for broader, a broader definition, and understand that it's that relationship of care for the family.

Unknown:

I love that. As you heard dogs barking earlier, you know we're huge dog lovers, but I gotta tell you, I will. I could easily show you an employee whose dog becomes seriously ill, also that's care right at the end of the day. So I love what you said, Dr Ben, and I hope as corporations start adjusting their definition and broaden it, all caregivers, all caregivers need to be considered and supported future as well. Future care. Yeah, thank you.

Dr. Donna Benton:

And recognize that it's going to be, it's there's a each caregiving situation feels a little different, and so it's not that we're going to but there are just some common things. And if you can bring education to a person, if you can give that flexibility to people, understand that, you know, sometimes there's this fear is like, Oh, well, if we give everybody five days of paid leave, or they get five days of sick time there, everybody's going to use it. They've research has shown that people can do under use it once they know that it's available, that people, not everybody, takes the full time people. It's also so, so important to allow people to understand that if you take sick time for a family member, that is not the same thing as a vacation.

Unknown:

Amen. Amen to that. Forcing people

Dr. Donna Benton:

to use their vacation time is like, Oh, well, yeah, you can do this, but now it's gotta go on your vacation time. If you're using your vacation time to care for a family member they didn't get a rest, so you're not getting arrested worker when they come back, like if they went away and actually had a break and weren't working. So if they can help with that, that would be wonderful. Understand that sick time is sick time. Vacation time is vacation time, and help people not don't call family caregiving part of your vacation time. You

Unknown:

know, I'm going to mess up this quote, but somebody had shared this once with me, and I it stuck with me. Somebody said to me, many times, employees on their personal time are working. So what's wrong with employees spending personal time at work and getting paid for that right at the end of the day. I mean, it makes sense, if you think about it balances out. Yeah, that's right. Doctor. Ben, you mentioned early on that you talk to caregivers and you find out what it is that they need and what it is they want. And if I had known now what I didn't know at the beginning of my journey. Can you share with our listening caregivers some tips about you know, some of those voice that they may not know but they were going to come up against?

Dr. Donna Benton:

Okay? One of the things that people always say is, I wish I had known that there was somebody that I could talk to about my caregiving experience, so knowing that having more support groups, peer talk to, but to reach out to, that there are in every state, there is somebody within, like an Area Agency on Aging, assuming that the Older Americans Act gets passed, that they can reach out to. So they always wish that they had someone that they knew they could ask questions of. They also wished more often that they understood the importance of taking a break, and that it's not selfish that saying that I need a break, or what I call respite, both physically mentally, that it's not only is it not selfish, it is essential, yes, that it is. If you don't do it, you are going to burn out and you won't be there for the long run that you want to be there and you're going to and you won't have the patience. You'll do all the things you just like, your patience will be gone, and then everything else around you starts crumbling. So they always say, I wish I had understood that trying to me taking a break was not a selfish thing, and that they didn't. You know, blame themselves for actually saying, I need a break. That's, that's

Unknown:

a mic drop right there. That's, that's a mic drop, that's, that's, that's awesome.

Dr. Donna Benton:

I'm just saying what the caregiver said. I wish I knew, yeah, so those are the two things that always stand out for me,

Unknown:

and that's true. That's true for me, you said exactly what I would have answered that question. Those are the two things. And I was so bad. I even went to respite with my mom. When she went to respite care, I would go with her to make sure she was I wasn't getting any but I thought it was selfish, just like you're saying, Yeah, it's so crazy, yeah. Well, thank you so much, Doctor Benton, for being here with us and sharing all the wonderful work that you do. I had no idea you know of everything that you were involved with. This is fantastic information, not just locally, but on a national level as well. So thank you. We appreciate you. We appreciate your work,

Dr. Donna Benton:

and I really appreciate that you have this podcast for working caregivers and and the employers, because the majority of people are working while they're giving care, and it's and this is so thank you so much for inviting me on this podcast to have this wonderful discussion with you.

Unknown:

And I want to remind our viewers and listeners that challenge who is going to be the first person to reach out to Dr Benton and just inquire about doing an educational program? Trust me, it will be one of the best moments of conversations that you've ever had in terms of starting your culture of care. Thank you, Dr Ben, thank you so much.

Dr. Donna Benton:

Thank you for tuning in. Be sure to catch new episodes of working caregivers the invisible employees podcast every other Tuesday. Please also visit our website, invisible employee advocates.com to subscribe to our newsletter, purchase our book and learn more about how we can help you strengthen your workplace to become more supportive of working caregivers you.