More and more workers must balance career with caregiving. A startup called Wellthy is helping stressed-out staffers at companies like Hilton and Best Buy.
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Ellen Kessler was visiting her mother in Florida last year when things took a bad turn.
“She called me at 3 a.m. and was just hysterical, frightened that someone was in the house,” Kessler, who was staying at a hotel nearby, said. “I got there, and it was like she was not the same person. I didn’t know what to do.”
Concerned about leaving her then 91-year-old mother on her own, Kessler decided to bring her back with her to Maryland, which she said was “the worst mistake I ever made.” Being away from home exacerbated her mother’s anxiety and added a demanding burden to daily life for Kessler, a 60-year-old senior director at hotel chain Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc.
Kessler’s bind has become increasingly common. More than half the U.S. labor force has caregiving responsibilities outside of work, and some 37 million Americans can spend an average of nearly four hours a day looking after an elder, according to U.S. government data.
Estimates of the economic cost of caregiving in the U.S. range from $264 billion to as much as $600 billion. Many people who are trying to balance their professional lives with caregiving are forced to miss work, take leave or quit their jobs.
One startup is trying new ways to help working caregivers carry the load. When Kessler explained her situation to her boss, she learned that Hilton had a new elder-care benefit managed by a startup called Wellthy. Other big companies, including electronics retailer Best Buy Co., tech bellwether Meta Platforms Inc. and mutual-fund giant Vanguard Group Inc., also offer Wellthy’s services to employees.
Wellthy helps workers navigate the myriad issues that can arise when an older family member needs care. When Kessler reached out to Wellthy, they connected her with care consultant Lynda Cooke. Kessler’s mother has macular degeneration that impairs her vision, but she had resisted moving somewhere with full-time caregivers, so Cooke guided the family through finding a home health aide.
Then, a nighttime fall that resulted in a broken rib changed Kessler’s mother’s thinking about assisted living. “She said, ‘Ellen, I will not fight you anymore,’” Kessler recalled. Cooke was able to change course and provide Ellen with detailed questions to ask the facilities, guidance on negotiating fees and emotional support.
“Between the hospital, rehab and trying to work, it’s a lot,” Kessler said. “You really feel the wear and tear of being there for your parent.”
Lindsay Jurist-Rosner co-founded Wellthy in 2014 after struggling to balance a demanding career in marketing with caring for her mother, who had multiple sclerosis and died in 2017. She started offering the concierge service to individuals but quickly expanded to focus on selling it to employers as a sponsored benefit, meaning it’s free for employees. Companies usually pay between $3 and $6 per employee per month. That gets them access to Wellthy’s network of care specialists — many of them experienced social workers — who are available around the clock.
