How Cleo supports families across APAC — Global caregiving in action

When people think of caregiving benefits, they often picture them as being rooted in one place—most commonly the United States. But at Cleo, our support is already operating in regions around the world, meeting families where they are, in their language, in their culture, and in their moment of need.

And nowhere is that more evident than in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region.

The caregiving experience varies dramatically across cultures, and a one-size-fits-all approach simply doesn’t work. That’s why Cleo has invested in local expertise. Our network of Cleo Guides and Specialists includes professionals based in Australia, India, Japan, and Singapore—experts who live in the region, speak the languages, and deeply understand the caregiving expectations families face.

Our APAC-based Guides don’t just simply offer support—they build relationships. They speak English, Hindi, Japanese, Tamil, Marathi, Kannada, and Turkish, and they’re backed by real-time translation services in more than 250 languages.

The unique intensity of APAC burnout

Across Cleo’s global footprint, caregiving is a common challenge—but in APAC, the crisis has reached a unique intensity. Our latest data from the Family Health Index™ reveals that 53% of APAC members are at high risk for caregiving burnout—a staggering figure that underscores the severity of the region’s caregiving crisis.

While we see a global trend of parents screening at high risk for burnout (an FHI of 45 or less), the pressure in APAC is uniquely compounded by vulnerabilities in mental wellbeing and social connection:

• Heightened mental health strain: 63% of APAC working caregivers screen positive on the PHQ-4, indicating a risk for depression or anxiety. This is 29% higher than Cleo’s global average of 49%.
• The isolation gap: Social isolation is a primary driver of this crisis. 17% of APAC members report feeling isolated most of the time or always—a rate 89% higher than the rest of Cleo’s global members.
• Poor health perception: The toll is physical as well. 27% of APAC caregivers rate their own health as “poor” or “fair,” a metric that is 59% worse than our global average.

These vulnerabilities are often rooted in a perfect storm of regional factors:

• Cultural expectations: Traditional familial expectations often place the primary burden of care on women, even as professional demands rise.
• The sandwich generation: Many members are simultaneously managing high-stakes parenting while caring for aging parents—often without the support of the traditional “village.”
• The nuclear shift: A transition from multi-generational households to nuclear living is isolating members, forcing them to provide caregiving from a distance.
• Economic & social pressures: High costs of living in hubs like Australia, Japan, and Korea, combined with social media-driven doom scrolling, have led to a significant loss of relational capacity.

Despite these hurdles, there is a clear path forward: when these high-risk members engage with Cleo, ⅔ members report a significant increase in their FHI scores, proving that culturally concordant, localized support can bridge the isolation gap.

APAC families face unique pressures

Traditional caregiving support often stops at logistics. At Cleo, we understand that true support requires a holistic, clinical, and emotional lens.

Consider a member in Singapore navigating the “Cliff of Survivorship” after completing chemotherapy for breast cancer. Though cancer-free, she was struggling with the physical and emotional aftershocks: peripheral neuropathy triggered by the Singapore heat, chronic fatigue, and the mental load of balancing high-pressure work deadlines with home life.

She wasn’t just tired; she was experiencing a hyper-vigilant nervous system where minor stressors caused multi-day emotional hangovers.

Working with a Cleo Specialist, the member moved from being cured to truly healing:

• Validation: Using medical research, the Specialist validated that her symptoms were a recognized medical phenomenon, removing the member’s guilt of feeling weak.
• Tangible tools: They implemented a “Body Battery” pacing strategy (the 50/30/20 rule) and a data-driven recovery tracker to manage her exhaustion.
• Advocacy: Cleo supported the member in preparing for a performance review to discuss adjusted responsibilities, ensuring her career remained stable during her recovery.

As the member shared:

Culturally relevant guidance, on the ground

Cleo’s support in APAC goes far beyond just having Guides in-region. We tailor our coaching and content to address the specific questions and cultural nuances our members encounter:

• In India, members learn about their rights during childbirth through local organizations like Human Rights in Childbirth.
• In Singapore, they get help navigating prenatal care costs and identifying the right providers.
• Across the region, Cleo Guides help families understand sleep strategies that differ from North American norms, and coach them through multigenerational caregiving conversations shaped by local traditions.
• We also support parents through parenting style clashes and generational expectations—particularly common in tightly-knit family cultures.

Caregiving is global. So is Cleo.

In APAC, Cleo is delivering on the promise of transformation over mere translation. By addressing the specific drivers of burnout—from the high cost of living to the isolation of nuclear families—we are showing what global care should look like.

If your organization is ready to extend truly global, truly human caregiving support to your employees in APAC and beyond, get in touch with Cleo today.