HARRISONBURG, VA. (Third Way Media)–Third Way Media’s award-winning documentary Embracing Aging will run for a second time on ABC-TV Oct. 17 through Dec. 12 (at local stations’ discretion).
At a meeting last week of the National Council of Churches, which releases special religious programming through the Interfaith Broadcasting Commission, producer Sheri Hartzler learned of a last-minute problem with the previously scheduled program for this time slot. “It was a matter of being in the right place at the right time. I suggested re-airing Embracing Aging and we’re delighted that this program on such a timely issue will get national airtime again.”
Embracing Aging first aired on ABC in January of 2008. Since then a DVD has been released along with a website, www.EmbracingAging.com with additional resources and links. Also, Third Way Media’s Shaping Families radio program is running a special series on aging during October.
In the Embracing Aging program, Dr. Ira Byock asserts, “It’s time for we baby boomers to grow ‘the rest of the way’ up.” Dr. Byock is professor at Dartmouth Medical School (N.H.) and director of palliative care for the medical center there.
Residents of ElderSpirit, a co-housing community for age 55 and up in rural Abingdon, Va., tell why they wanted to explore alternatives to typical retirement communities. The community’s founder, Dene Peterson, says one of her passions is to change the way elders are treated in society.
The documentary addresses the universal topic of aging through the eyes of five extended families from across the country:
· The Guengerich family, Harrisonburg, Va., facing a series of downsizing moves while physical needs increase.
· The Durkee family, Tunbridge, Vt., care-giving for a mother with Alzheimer’s and a father with chronic leukemia.
· Shirley Phillips, and daughter, Los Angeles, fighting a medical system which had given up on Shirley when she was only 74 years old.
· The Davis family, New York City, adjusting to a new world in assisted living after the death of wife/mother.
· The Concepcion family, California and Virginia, managing long-distance care of father with brother and sister on opposite coasts.
The program also includes Jennie Chin Hansen, the president of AARP; Lynn Miller, an author and stewardship counselor for Mennonite Mutual Aid; volunteers with Mennonite Mission Network’s SOOP program; Licia Berry-Berard, a geriatric social worker; Dr. Lisa Furmanski, a geriatrician at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center; Stella Henry, author of The ElderCare Handbook and founder of Vista del Sol assisted living facility; and Arthur Webb, CEO of Village Care of New York (NYC).
The program probes phases of aging, retirement, housing options, care issues, relationships, aging in different cultures, and the role of faith and the church.
The documentary was produced by Third Way Media in partnership with the Catholic Telecasters Group for ABC-TV’s “Vision and Values” series. It was produced and released to ABC stations by the National Council of Churches through the Interfaith Broadcasting Commission. The executive producers are Burton Buller and Father James Gardiner; producer, Sheri Hartzler; editor, Wayne Gehman; writer, Melodie Davis; and narrator Barbra Graber.
In 2009, the documentary received a Platinum Remi WorldFest Houston Award and a Communicator Award of Distinction.
For updates on stations airing the program check www.interfaithbroadcasting.com/ An accompanying website, www.EmbracingAging.com adds additional resources and links on the subject of aging.
