Most caregivers in America are unpaid. They take care of family members, including disabled parents. Many unpaid caregivers forego wages and sacrifice their careers to take care of their parents or other loved ones. They might lack funds to pay a professional caregiver, or they might be unable to find one.
The nation is facing a shortage of professional caregivers, in large part because caregivers earn low wages for difficult work. They have little incentive to persevere in their career when they begin to burn out.
Older Americans who need caregivers and the adult children who help them are acutely aware of the caregiver shortage. Family caregivers who would like to return to work are frustrated when they cannot find reliable professionals to take over their caregiving duties.
Younger Americans who are not caring for a parent might be less aware of the burdens that are shared by 53 million family caregivers. A Hollywood star who understands those burdens is producing a documentary that will spotlight the need to provide family caregivers with the same security and well-being that they provide to their loved ones.
Bradly Cooper’s Caregiving Experience
Bradley Cooper, the star of Maestro, A Star is Born, and many other movies, is the executive producer of Caregivers, a documentary that will be shown on PBS in 2025. The film will blend expert opinions about the causes of the nation’s caregiving crisis with personal stories that illustrate the impact of the crisis on families.
While a number of organizations work to bring about a systemic change that will provide family caregivers with the resources they need, those voices are not always heard. Cooper hopes the documentary will “raise the banner for caregivers” by elevating the conversation to a national level.
Cooper was a caregiver for his late father during his father’s struggle with cancer. He explains that his father’s diagnosis was “a wake-up call for me, one that really opened my eyes to the world of caregiving.” After spending his childhood idolizing his father, Cooper experienced the emotional trauma of giving a parent a bath.
Cooper had established his career as an actor by the time his father died in 2011. He likely had more resources than most family caregivers. Yet his experience caused him to reflect upon the broader implications of caregiving. He realized that most people will become caregivers at some point in their lives and understood that many family members make life-changing sacrifices when they stay at home to care for a disabled parent.
Caregivers Telling Their Stories
Sharon Percy Rockefeller, Chief Executive Officer of public broadcast station WETA, explains that the documentary will take a deep dive into the history and evolution of America’s care system and the social dynamics that shape the nation’s current approach to caregiving. It will also explore the family and economic pressures that caregivers face and the broader societal context in which caregiving operates.
The documentary will gain its power, however, from interviews with family caregivers who share “their personal stories of challenge and triumph.” The stories are told by women and men who pushed the pause button on their lives so they could take care of parents with Alzheimer’s and spouses who suffer from debilitating diseases. Rockefeller hopes that telling stories about “selfless acts of caregiving” will “connect and galvanize providers and supporters to join forces and bring attention to the urgent support system needed to protect this often-overlooked population.”
The four-hour documentary is expected to premiere on PBS in Spring 2025. A short “sizzle reel” featuring Cooper and Ai-Jen Poo, president of the National Domestic Workers Alliance and director of Caring Across Generations, offers a glimpse of the final product.