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	Eldercare Help For The Self-Employed
	Article 3: Care-Giving Issues For The Self-Employed Many corporations accommodate employees so they can care for elderly relatives. They provide paid leave, flexible work schedules or assign co-workers so work gets done. But most self-employed don’t enjoy such job benefits. And there’s always the problem that your own relatives may erroneously assume, “because you don’t have a real job,” you should handle those matters that must be done for mom or dad during business hours. Reality often is very different. “Especially if you are self-employed and work out of a home office, learning how to set the limitation” is vital, says Barbara Mascio, self-employed operator of the Senior Approved Services referral organization. “It’s like when your two-year-old grandchild is vying for attention . . .” Mascio explains. One must learn to say, “Yes, Mom, I love you and I’ll take you for a walk and feed you, but I need to work right now.” Mascio not only helps connect caregivers with resources and institutions for elderly relatives, but she’s also an expert on the subject, if experience is any measure. While formulating her business, Mascio provided care-giving to her own mother, grandmother, grandfather and her husband’s grandmother. The second most frequent reason people miss work (after caring for their children) is to care for elderly relatives, according to Tom Begert-Clark, a motivational speaker who works with senior care organizations and is member of the National Association of Adult Day Services. For the self-employed, missing work has particular significance. “All of the time you spend caring for your loved ones is time taken away from your business,” says Deborah Halpern, of National Family Caregivers Association. Worse yet, Halpern says, is that for “those working from home, your office is always there. If you’re caring for your loved one during the day, you’re working all night.”