Companies helping employees care for their elderly parents

Every week, Intel Corp. dispatches small armies of 20-something social scientists and engineers to households of old people living at the four corners of the earth -- to Rochester, N.Y. (with any luck, in the middle of a snowstorm), to an impoverished Ugandan village (where living to a ripe old age means making it to 40), to southern Italy, where there's barely a concept of "nursing home."

The microchip giant crunched the data -- 860 million people worldwide who are diagnosed with one or more chronic diseases, a number that's expected to double by 2025 and double again by 2050 -- and read the tea leaves.

They see a future of profit gain for innovators with products and services to deal with this senior tsunami and years of profit drain at businesses where growing numbers of employees become caregivers.

"Yes, it's a business opportunity for Intel but it's also a business imperative," Eric Dishman, general manager and global director of Intel's Health Research & Innovation Group concedes. "We have 90,000 employees and we know that a third of them do elder care. For many, it's a huge challenge -- like having a day job and a night job."

According to an AARP study, the economic value of family caregiving is worth $350 billion a year -- with productivity losses costing American businesses $33 billion.

A 1999 MetLife study found that 33 percent of working women decreased work hours, 29 percent passed up a job promotion, and 22 percent took a leave of absence -- all in order to fulfill caregiving responsibilities.

As 78 million Baby Boomers reach retirement age in less than three years, the impact is set to skyrocket. By 2030, 60 percent of Boomers will be managing more than one chronic condition; by 2040, seniors will outnumber caregivers 3-to-1.

Dishman's Digital Health Group was formed by Intel two years ago and charged with focusing on diseases and elder care. It began scheduling regular forums for its employees to help them anticipate the impact of the demographic disruption on their own lives. It hosted a Washington, D.C., business summit July 17 on "Chronic Care at the Crossroads," focused on greater engagement between policy makers, health professionals, payers and caregivers.

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