Getting to Know the Beneficiaries

To understand how those who will benefit the most from the Washington Cares Fund, the team interviewed 17 potential beneficiaries who participated in our survey. Those potential beneficiaries represent the broad spectrum of Washingtonians, including those from various racial and gender identities, income levels, and marital status.

As part of this research, the team developed “personas” to highlight the varied segments of the potential beneficiary population and their perceptions of long-term care. A persona helps depict the experiences, motivations, and goals of a beneficiary group, as well as the barriers that different people face when engaging in a particular process. For our report, personas offer what aggregate data cannot: firsthand insight into how the long-term care system can support the needs of beneficiaries, and identifiable areas of improvement.

There are many personas that were explored in our research, but the team narrowed it down to the following four key personas—note that people from varied genders and ethnicities fell within each of these different groups. While demographic characteristics are important, we found that they were not the most salient in determining an individual’s orientation towards long-term care.

“Mothers to the World”

The “Mother to the World" is driven to meet her loved ones’ needs rather than her own. She views the world through a caretaker’s lens. Ironically, she can fall into a pattern of neglecting her own needs because she is laser focused on caring for her loved ones. While she may be providing long-term care to others, she might not have much in place for when she will need long-term care for herself.

While the job of a family caregiver is not necessarily gender specific, this task historically has fallen on the shoulders of women. The average family caregiver is a 49 year old woman providing 20 hours of unpaid care for a parent, according to Caregiving.com. Also, women provide more hours of care per week for a family member than men. More than half of the women who care for a loved one say they felt like they did not have a choice, and are more likely than male caregivers to be unemployed and experience stress.

The Mother to the World has a lot of responsibility; she takes care of her elderly parents, and she takes care of her own children. Sometimes, she is also the main caretaker of her spouse/partner. Through this experience, she understands long-term care and knows how to advocate for the ones that she loves and is able to navigate the system to find the resources they need.

However, the emotional and financial toll of caring for the people that she loves can leave her exhausted and, at times, even in poor health. She might be planning her own retirement, but this tends to come after caring for her family members. Her caregiving duties may have kept her from collecting benefits that come with full-time employment: a 401k, a pension, and social security. She is very capable and knowledgeable, but still, her retirement years can look precarious because she might not have anyone able to care for her and few resources saved up.

“Planners”

The “Planner” trusts that hard work today can lead to rewards in the future. They desire to live and enjoy life to its fullest, but they are also realistic; they have experience in caring for a loved one such as a parent or grandparent. They also have seen firsthand that at a certain point in life, most people face changes and need care. Their caretaking experience gives them a sense of what type of care they will need and what circumstances they need to prepare for later in life—this knowledge shapes their lives.

The Planner contributes early and often to an array of savings accounts: employer-based 401Ks or pension plans, college-tuition savings accounts for their children, and possibly other investments, depending on resources. They’ve made career choices based in part on benefits packages and they read through all the plans before choosing which one will serve them best. While they may have debts related to home mortgages, student loans, and credit cards, they are paying them down every month. Coupled with a steady income and career growth, they have created enough stability in their life that they can focus on future plans, which can vary based on their resources.

Those “Living in the Here and Now”

Someone “Living in the Here and Now” focuses on today, rather than on the future, simply because their vision of the future is worrisome. They do not know how they will have the resources to meet their needs when they can no longer work. They live with challenges such as unstable work, mounting debts, or a chronic illness that can make life feel overwhelming.

For most of their life, they have had limited financial resources, earning well below Washington State’s household median income of $78,687. Those interviewed who fell within this persona worked as gig workers, entrepreneurs, or full-time employees, but for low wages. They were of varying ages and ethnic backgrounds and lived in cities across the state.

They may also feel a sense of hopelessness, and the very thought about their future becomes overwhelming. This makes it challenging for them to take the initial steps of planning for their future, because thinking of the future is stressful.

Those “Facing Life’s Hurdles”

Life throws all of us a curveball at times. The "Facing Life's Hurdle" persona is in a moment of change. They seem to have their whole life ahead of them—career and personal life. Then, an unexpected shift in their life changes it all—be it a sudden debilitating illness, an injury, or a divorce. Whatever the reason, suddenly they face new obstacles. They're forced to pivot in their present life and plan another path that lands them searching for long-term care options.

Unlike the Living in the Here and Now persona, who rarely has enough bandwidth for future planning, Facing Life’s Hurdles has a network to tap into for support, such as family, friends, and their surrounding community—but not all. There are those who have to navigate the system on their own, resulting in the need for a supportive advocate through community-based organizations who can connect them to resources. That includes searching for a caregiver, moving into a nursing home and possibly transitioning into Medicaid.