St. John’s and WXXI Collaboration Spotlights Caregiving and Surrounding Issues
St. John’s sponsored a special screening of Caregiving at The Little Theatre this month. Part of WXXI‘s “Move to Include,” initiative the sponsorship also included a caregiving-centered episode of Connections with Evan Dawson, which was filmed in front of a live-studio audience with St. John’s Meadows Resident Barabara Smith and St. John’s Vice President Jennifer Lesinski on the panel.
A Night at The Little
Caregiving, a documentary created with executive producer Bradley Cooper and narrated by award-winning actress, Uzo Aduba, highlights the challenges and triumphs of caregiving in America. Clips of the documentary were shown at a free screening hosted by WXXI at The Little Theatre on June 3. Along with St. John’s support, other sponsors included local organizations Lifespan of Greater Rochester and Mary Cariola Center, as well as the Washington Educational Telecommunications Association.
The screening, which many St. John’s residents attended also, was followed by a panel discussion featuring local caregivers who spoke about their respective journeys.
Connections with Evan Dawson
Prior to this event, St. John’s Vice President of Marketing Jennifer Lesinski and St. John’s Meadows Resident (also a caregiver) Barbara Smith joined a panel of experts on Connections with Evan Dawson. The episode, “Caregiving for People with Dementia,” focused on the issues caregivers and service providers are facing in the Finger Lakes Region. Joining Lesinski and Smith were Katy Allen, division leader for caregiver services at Lifespan and Carol Podgorski, Ph.D., director of the Finger Lakes Center of Excellence for Alzheimer’s Disease.
“We want to build a physical Dementia Resource Center, and we want to be able to provide caregiver recourses for free,” said Lesinski, citing financial resources as one of the barriers to supporting in this community.
“Take care of yourself,” said Smith, “that is one of the first things to think about.” Smith stressed the importance of being proactive and “reaching out for help” early on in the caregiving journey. Smith has been the primary caregiver for her husband Bill since 2018; she said that they moved to St. John’s Meadows following Bill’s dementia diagnosis for the socialization and resources.
“It has been great at the Meadows,” said Smith. She mentioned that she does not shy away from talking about caregiving or Bill’s diagnosis. “People know us there, we both get that socialization.”
More from Smith and Lesinski can be heard on the full one-hour episode online. The filmed version will air on June 23 at 9 p.m. and again on June 24 at 8 p.m., followed by the television premier of Caregiving at 9 p.m. on WXXI-TV.