The USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology hosted a three-hour event about caregiving for older adults that included a photography presentation, a documentary screening and a panel discussion. The event, titled “Voices of Young Caregivers in the Digital Age” was held Friday, Oct. 1 both in-person in the Leonard Davis Auditorium and online via Zoom.
Photographer Roberto “Bear” Guerra as well as his wife and collaborator Ruxandra Guidi spoke about their photography exhibit, “Going Gray in LA: Stories of Aging Along Broadway,” which was produced in collaboration with radio station KCRW. The exhibit focused on senior citizens living in working-class neighborhoods along Broadway in Los Angeles.
Guidi said the series sought to ask the question, “How do older adults in this cross-section of the city continue to find meaning in their lives as they grow older?”
“Going Gray in LA” was started in 2016 and took the form of radio broadcasts, online photo essays, a print newspaper, a traveling photo exhibit and community events.
After the “Going Gray in LA” presentation, attendees watched the documentary “It’s Not a Burden,” created and directed by Michelle Boyaner, who attended the event via Zoom. The film contained interviews with caretakers across the U.S. as well as Boyaner’s own journey caring for her elderly mother.
Boyaner said helping her parents on their journey of getting older feels like being transported to a “family-themed amusement park.”
“You’re placed on a ride with parents and maybe a couple of siblings, and then off you go,” Boyaner said in the documentary. “And I realized that so many other people were on this same ride with their parents too.”
The documentary provided an emotional and personal look into the struggles and joys of caregiving, sporting a dynamic cast of characters that ranged from a man with a hoarding problem who owned 163 polo shirts to a couple who turned their family home into a residential boarding house for seniors.
Boyaner then did a brief Q&A session before the panel discussion began. Alongside Boyaner, USC alumni and students Alexander Gonzales, Suzy Mage, Ricardo Alonzo Ugalde and Kelly Marnfeldt answered questions and shared personal stories about their experience as past or current caregivers.
Gonzales, a USC alumnus and project specialist at the school of gerontology, spoke about how becoming a caregiver for his father helped him put aside their rocky relationship.Ph.D. student Mage—who joined the panel digitally, as she currently lives with and cares for her mother—discussed the physical demands of caregiving as well as difficulty dating as a caregiver.
Mage also spoke about her dissatisfaction with a nursing home her mother briefly lived in. Attendee Kris Brannon, a master’s student in the gerontology school with experience as a nursing home administrator, found this particularly interesting.
“People are going to take care of their family, and certain people are going to do it right. But then you have people that can’t,” Brannon said. “I’m really interested in learning about what aspects of nursing homes can really be changed.”
As a former caregiver for her mother, doctoral student Marnfeldt spoke about unhelpful family members offering unwelcomed criticism. Brett Anderson, a master’s student in the gerontology school who attended the event, related to Marnfeldt’s experience.
“People are so ready and willing to give you advice [about caregiving] and correct you but then when you need their help, they’re like, ‘Who are you?’” Anderson said. “I’ve seen that time after time in my own family and other people’s families at work. It’s just so common.”
When asked what program she would like to see implemented to help caregivers, Boyaner answered playfully, but honestly, that she wished for a more absorbent adult diaper.
Event moderator Kate Wilber, a professor of gerontology at USC, thought this event was valuable for people of all ages, as more millennials and Gen Z step into various types of caregiving roles.
“One of things we also wanted to communicate is that caregiving doesn’t mean that you live in the house and do care for 40, 50, however many hours a week,” Wilber said. “It can be taking grandma to the bank or it can be some distant caregiving.”
Wilber also said that she hopes this event helped raise awareness about the prominence of care partnerships and guided people toward a community of caregivers.
“I want people to understand that many USC students have care partnerships with older adults and that that’s a valued, recognized role and that there are other people to connect with or talk to about it or get additional help,” Wilber said.
For student caregivers seeking support and advice, USC’s school of gerontology is home to the USC Family Caregiver Support Center. More information can be found on their website.