Library to host ‘Caregiving’ documentary screening, panel discussion

The Lewiston Library will host a screening of “Caregiving,” a PBS documentary produced by Bradley Cooper, in May. 

Cooper has said he was inspired to create the documentary after his experience caring for his terminally ill father.

“When my father was diagnosed with cancer, that was a wake-up call for me, one that really opened my eyes to the world of caregiving,” Cooper said in a statement. “Everyone will end up caring for a loved one at some point in their life.”

The documentary includes personal stories from family members providing care for loved ones with disabilities, elderly family members, and family who are in a health crisis or nearing end of life.

The film also examines the history and evolution of care systems in the United States, as well as the social dynamics that shape caregiving today.

At the event, attendees can watch 30 minutes of the two-hour film, followed by a panel discussion with guests including Mark M. Havens with the Clarkston-based nonprofit Interlink, and Todd Holcomb with the Area Agency on Aging in north central Idaho. 

The panel will include a Q&A session, and discussion of caregiving topics including elder caregiving, community resources, personal caregiving stories and historical perspectives on caregiving.

Holcomb said it’s important for caregivers to get support. At his agency, respite services for caregivers are available in addition to homemaker services for people in need or who are caregiving.

“When you’re a caregiver, you’re giving a lot more than just the basic things that you think of. You’re giving your time, your energy,” he said. “A lot of times a caregiver ends up at home taking care of somebody, and it becomes just as difficult for them to get out, get to the grocery store, to go cook a meal.”

Many of the region’s population may need a caregiver within the next few decades or have a family member who needs caregiving.

People 65 and older account for 21.6% of residents in Nez Perce County, and 26.1% of the population in Asotin County, according to the United States Census Bureau.

 The Lewiston Tribune has reported that seniors account for roughly 28% of all adults over 20 years old in the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley. The median age is close to that of Florida at about 42 to 43.

Interlink, a nonprofit that provides volunteer-based transportation and minor home modifications for seniors in the area, has predicted that one in three adults in the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley will be 65 or older by 2040. 

With that growth, the nonprofit also predicts increasing needs in health care, transportation and accessible housing.

Havens, executive director at Interlink, said one of the best things older people can do is to prepare early. 

That could mean planning for whether they want to continue living at home, designating power of attorney, planning when to give up driving and seeking alternate transportation, deciding whether one wants to be kept on life support in the event of a medical emergency, or informing adult children about medical needs.

“Planning ahead is an act of love. You’re doing it for yourself and you’re doing it for your loved ones so that they don’t have this unexpected burden,” Havens said.

Holcomb said one of the biggest regional barriers for people needing care is transportation.

It just makes a big difference when it’s somebody on top of a mountain somewhere that needs services and the companies that provide them may be based in Lewiston. That’s a long way out,” he said. 

It’s also important for middle-aged people to learn about local resources before they need to use them, and for the sake of older relatives. 

“I think almost anybody who’s over age 40 could probably benefit, middle-aged people who are watching their parents get older … so that they know what’s available in their own local community before the time comes,” Havens said.

The need for caregiving isn’t just driven by an aging population. According to the National Alliance of Caregivers, more than one in five Americans, or 53 million people, have provided care to an adult or child with special needs at some time in the past 12 months. 

A report by AARP estimated that in 2021, 38 million family caregivers provided on average 18 hours or care per week, or a collective 36 billion hours of care.

Those family caregivers include an estimated 5.4 million children who support parents, grandparents, siblings and other family members, according to a Report on Caregiving Youth in the U.S. by the Caregiving Youth Institute.

Holcomb said it’s also not uncommon to see grandparents taking care of grandchildren. 

Nationally, as of 2021, 2.1 million grandparents in the U.S. were primary caregivers for their grandchildren, according to the American Society on Aging.

“There’s a gap in our conversation around grandparents taking care of grandkids. It’s not high on our radar,” he said. “We’re not having this conversation as regularly as I think is really happening here. So I would love to see that get picked up.”

Attendees can RSVP here.

EVENT DETAILS:

TIME: 5:30 – 7 p.m.; doors open 5 p.m.

DATE: May 29

WHERE: Lewiston City Library

Editor’s Note: NWPB is organizing the May event. In full disclosure, Rachel Sun is employed by NWPB and serves as a shared health reporter for the Inland Northwest for NWPB, the Lewiston Tribune and the Moscow-Pullman Daily News.