NCC documentary: aging brings uncertainties but freedom

["Philip Jenks" <pjenks@ncccusa.org>]

>Aging brings uncertainties but also freedom,
>asserts NCC documentary on ABC television

See http://www.ncccusa.org/news/101006agingdocumentary.html

Harrisonburg, Va., October 6, 2010 -- The issues and uncertainties of 
aging  are the focus of a National Council of Churches documentary 
produced by Th ird Way Media and slated for broadcast on the ABC 
television network beginn ing October 17.

"Embracing Aging: Families Facing Change" addresses the universal 
topic thr ough the eyes of extended families from across the United 
States. 

"I would like to be able to embrace my later years but I'm still 
scared bec ause I don't know what's going to happen," says Randi 
Gedaliah of New York  City, one of the family members who appears in 
the documentary. Gedaliah's  father, Harry Davis, 86, is one of the 
elders featured in the program.

"It's time for we baby boomers to grow 'the rest of the way up,'" 
asserts D r. Ira Byock in the program. Dr. Byock is professor at 
Dartmouth Medical Sc hool (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 viewers why they wanted to explore 
alternatives to typi cal retirement communities. The community's 
founder, Dene Peterson, says on e of her passions is to change the 
way elders are treated in American socie ty.

The documentary was produced for the "Vision and Values" series for 
ABC-TV  by Third Way Media in partnership with the Catholic 
Telecasters Group and r eleased to ABC stations by the National 
Council of Churches through the Int erfaith Broadcasting 
Commission. The executive producers are Burton Bulle r and Father 
James Gardiner; producer, Sheri Hartzler; editor, Wayne Gehman ; 
writer, Melodie Davis; and narrator Barbra Graber.

>Families appearing in the documentary are:

*   The Durkee family, Tunbridge, Vt.: care-giving for a mother with  
Alzheimer's and a father with chronic leukemia.
*   The Guengerich family, Harrisonburg, Va.: facing a series of down 
sizing moves while physical needs increase.
*   Shirley Phillips, and daughter, Los Angeles.: fighting a medical  
system which had given up on the mother at the age of 74.
*   The Davis family, New York: adjusting to a new social world in as 
sisted living after the death of wife/mother.
*   The Concepcion family, California and Virginia: managing long-dis 
tance care of father with brother and sister on opposite coasts.
  
The program also includes Jennie Chin Hansen, president of AARP, 
Licia Berr y-Berard, geriatric social worker, and Dr. Lisa Furmanski 
geriatrician, Dar tmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center; Stella Henry, 
author of The ElderCare Hand book and founder of Vista del Sol 
assisted living facility; Arthur Webb, CE O of Village Care of New 
York (NYC), Lynn Miller, author and stewardship co unselor for 
Mennonite Mutual Aid; and volunteers with the SOOP (Service Opp 
ortunities for Older Persons).

The program probes phases of aging, retirement, housing options, care 
iss ues and options, relationships, aging in different cultures, and 
the role o f faith and the church.

For updates on stations airing the program check 
www.interfaithbroadcasting .com/  The program is also available at 
store.ThirdWayMedia.org on DVD fo r $24.95 with study guide and bonus 
content.

An accompanying website, www.EmbracingAging.com adds additional 
resources a nd links on the subject of aging.  Audio programs on the 
subject are availa ble at www.ShapingFamilies.org.  See Past Programs 
in October for Aging: Ca re Options and Aging: Housing Choices.  

Since its founding in 1950, the National Council of the Churches of 
Christ  in the USA has been the leading force for ecumenical 
cooperation among Chri stians in the United States. The NCC's 36 
member faith groups - from a wide  spectrum of Protestant, Anglican, 
Orthodox, Evangelical, historic African  American and Living Peace 
churches -- include 45 million persons in more th an 100,000 local 
congregations in communities across the nation.

NCC News contact:  Philip E. Jenks, 212-870-2228 (office), 
646-853-4212 (ce ll), pjenks@ncccusa.org