Event Date: June 18, 2025
FREE Community Conversation & Film Screening on Caregiving
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Staff
WITF will present a free community conversation and film screening around the complexities, challenges and triumphs of caregiving.
Wednesday, June 18 • 6 – 8pm
WITF Public Media Center
4801 Lindle Rd., Harrisburg, PA 17111
Listen to the Panel Discussion for Caregiving
Moderator:
Scott LaMar, Former Host of Smart Talk and The Spark on WITF
Panelists:
- Anne Coulridge, Caregiver to Adult Son with Autism
- MyNgoc Dang-Nguyen, Caregiver to Aging Parents
- Michael Leader, Caregiver to Adult Daughter with Ataxia
Listen to the Panel Discussion for Matter of Mind: My Alzheimer’s
Moderator:
Scott LaMar, Former Host of Smart Talk and The Spark on WITF
Panelists:
- Dr. Rollin Wright, Associate Professor of Medicine Division of Geriatric Medicine/Dept of Medicine Penn State Health at Hershey Medical Center
- Joel Kroft, Executive Director of Memory Support Services at Country Meadows Retirement Communities and Ecumenical Community
- Meaghan Abbott, Director of Alzheimer’s, Dementia and Related Disorders Office at Pennsylvania Department of Aging
To start the conversation, we will watch clips from two films, Caregiving and Matter of Mind: My Alzheimer’s. Through those films, we will explore the role of paid and unpaid caregivers, the challenges and joy of caregiving, creative solutions and supports that exist in the United States, and how caregiving changes and evolves relationships — as a parent, child, life partner or a professional providing in-home care.
After each screening, Scott LaMar, former host of The Spark, will return to WITF to moderate panel discussions with medical professionals and caregivers about the topics raised in the films.
You’ll hear from local experts in the caregiving field – including memory care – and from caregivers and family members who experience the highs and lows of providing around-the-clock care for a loved one.
This Free Community Conversation and Film Screening is supported by:
About the Films
Caregiving, a documentary from executive producer Bradley Cooper, brings audiences into the daily experiences of six family and professional caregivers across the U.S. as they share the realities associated with providing care full-time and the often-complicated challenges and extraordinary moments — including joy — that are part of the care relationship.
The film features Matthew, a young father who became both his wife and son’s primary caregiver overnight after his wife experienced cancer and a debilitating stroke; Jacob, a 14-year-old who, along with his father, is a caregiver for his mom; Tracy, a young woman who balances the transition from daughter to caregiver for her father, who needs dementia care; and Zulma, a paid home health aide who has become like family to Sherril, who has multiple sclerosis, while she also cares for her own family after long hours of commuting.
The documentary also explores the changing social norms around caregiving and examines how the need to care for veterans intensified caregiving demands, exposed critical gaps in support systems and led to reforms to better address long-term care needs.
Independent Lens: Matter of Mind: My Alzheimer’s, a documentary by award-winning co-directors Anna Moot-Levin and Laura Green, is an intimate portrayal of three families who are confronting the unique challenges of Alzheimer’s.
Going beyond the statistics, the film explores how this disease impacts identities and roles in relationships—when one partner becomes a caregiver or how both parent and child are transformed when the traditional role of provider is reversed.
Caregiving will be available to stream on the PBS app beginning May 27, and will premiere on WITF TV and other PBS stations on June 24 at 9pm. Matter of Mind: My Alzheimer’s premiered on WITF and other PBS stations May 5.
