I'm recently back from maternity leave, and my experience over the past month has had me thinking and revisiting some of the things we've covered on Radio Advisory. I wanted to share those thoughts with you, our Radio Advisory listeners and Advisory Board members.

Longtime listeners of Radio Advisory may have noticed that I hosted fewer episodes this summer or that I was missing from Advisory Board events. The truth is, I had my second child at the beginning of the summer, and I am just beginning to dive back into work.

Days before I turned on my computer and queued up my podcasting station, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy wrote an opinion piece in the New York Times about the modern burdens of parenting. To say that I felt seen by that piece would be an understatement.

Alongside abundant joy, he wrote that parents feel lonely, exhausted, and overwhelmed nearly every day, and many suffer from mental health challenges. Murthy called for fundamental change, issuing a surgeon general advisory to call attention to the mental health concerns facing parents and caregivers. That advisory came with many tangible solutions (in fact, Murthy warned against platitudes), including advice for national and local governments, employers, communities, family members, and parents themselves.

While the problem Murthy laid out is one that impacts all parents, I couldn't help but think about how parenting impacts the health and well-being of mothers specifically. In a country with an unconscionably high maternal mortality rate, remember that mental health conditions are the leading cause of pregnancy-related deaths — comprising nearly a quarter of deaths during pregnancy and across the first postpartum year.

As the days ticked down to my own return to work — and my role as advisor to health leaders — I kept thinking about the role of the modern health leader in caring for caregivers. While the structural change Murthy called for will fall to many, there is specific work that healthcare business leaders can do.

Here's why caring for caregivers should be part of your strategic plan — and, because we are here to help, some guidance from Advisory Board about how to take steps in that direction.

1. The caregiver crisis adds to an already high behavioral health burden.

In the United States, we've long been battling rising behavioral health demand. And many providers tell me they feel powerless to meet it, recognizing that the legacy approach to behavioral health doesn't address the magnitude or the complexity of need.

The healthcare system cannot absorb any additional behavioral health demand — including the demand that comes from overburdened caregivers. We must address the root causes of behavioral health and the specific challenges of caregivers. Together, we must address the stigmatization that comes with asking for and needing behavioral health support, fight for more affordable and accessible treatment, expand clinical evidence, and address the social determinants of health.

Providers, plans, life sciences companies, employers, vendors, and policy makers all have an impact on addressing these root causes. We've created playbooks with sector-specific tactics that will help leaders make meaningful progress on the behavioral health crisis. If health leaders fail to address these concerns, the behavioral health crisis will worsen, the maternal health crisis will become more deadly, and the next generation will suffer.

2. The healthcare workforce relies on caregivers.

The rise in the "sandwich generation" leaves middle-aged adults — and most of your employees — caring for children, parents, or in many cases, both. That means that when employees are at or near the peak of their career, they are often juggling multiple jobs at once — the job we've asked of them as healthcare employees, and the jobs they do at home.

If businesses want to be an employer of choice and productive economic engines on behalf of the patients and consumers they serve, they must support their employees in all stages of life. That is particularly true for women, who comprise a whopping 77% of the healthcare workforce.

To truly care for caregivers, parents, and mothers, employers must go beyond gauzy statements. Employees need the very structural support Murthy calls for, including best-in-class paid parental leave, sick leave, childcare support, elder care support, support in midlife, through menopause, and more.

Next steps

At the end of every Radio Advisory episode, we say, "we're here to help." But this time, I need your help. Me and the millions of other parents who want to do good work and be good parents.

The simple truth is that caregivers need care too . The goodnews is that we can take action — and do so in a way that supports our businesses. And to get you started, I've added some links for you to listen to, read, and share with your network.

Listen to, read (and share):

-          Listen: The behavioral health crisis won't change (unless we do)

-          Listen: The five root causes of behavioral health inequity

-          Listen: ChristianaCare's comprehensive, CFO-approved approach to behavioral healthcare

-          Read: Tactics to build a stronger behavioral health system

-          Read: Informal Caregiver Flexible Working Arrangement

Reflections from Radio Advisory

The purpose of Radio Advisory — and our primary goal as hosts — is to help leaders untangle healthcare's most pressing challenges. Every week, we make an honest effort to give our listeners real action steps so they can make real progress — or at least make sense of what to do next. The list of challenges and opportunities facing health leaders isn't getting smaller. And sometimes, a 30-minute podcast can provide the nudge you need to bring action items back to the top of your ever-growing to-do lists. Let Radio Advisory provide that nudge.