It’s one of the first initiatives of its kind, recognising the struggle faced by the ‘sandwich generation’ of workers, trying to balance jobs/children and caring responsibilities for older relatives.
Caring can put a huge amount of strain on families, which can be emotional, physical and financial. ONS census data suggests the number of unpaid carers across the UK is more than 5.7 million - with some caring charities putting it at almost double that figure. 1 in 7 people in the workplace are thought to be juggling work and care, with more senior staff members more likely to be affected – up to 1 in 4 women and 1 in 8 men.
The new offer means that alongside their Equipsme health benefits, members can now access Which? recommended personal alarms and emergency resolution services, plus expert advice, guidance and other resources.
Equipsme Managing Director Matthew Reed commented: “At Equipsme, we know people are worried about their families’ health. We think we’re the only group health provider who allows employees to upgrade their plans over and above the level bought by their employer, and add on their partner and children. We’ve also made sure that if your employer buys our dental and optical cover the pot expands with the family at no extra cost, and our nurse advice line already supports people with their own or their families’ health issues. But as a modern health insurance provider we wanted to do more - and specifically do more for informal carers.
“So many working people in our customer base are in this very difficult, very modern mid-life stage, caring for children and parents or other relatives while also holding down a job. It’s a burden that falls disproportionately on women, and impacts careers, health, and financial stability. Elder care support can help those people find some peace of mind and some effective, real-time back-up. Crucially, it also helps the older people they love stay in their own home and live their lives with more confidence.”
Under the elder care service are a range of monitored devices connected to 24/7 teams who can resolve emergency alarm calls in the event of things like falls, medical emergencies, intruders, fires or other distress. The highly-trained staff will immediately notify family members, listed contacts and the emergency services if required.
Matthew continued: “We know this kind of support makes a huge difference to older people, and to their carers, and we’re delighted to be able to open that up to Equipsme members.
“With a struggling NHS more people are turning to private health insurance, and that’s driving up prices across the board. It’s up to us as an industry to make sure we continue to provide good value for money, and that means really understanding customers, and really packing our products with as much added-value as possible.”
