What do you do when your spouse changes from the vibrant intelligent man you fell in love with to someone who doesn’t always know who you are?
The bottom-line question is this: What does a wife do when she has a career and her husband needs 24/7 care? Have you looked into the costs? Since many of the men in this film were diagnosed in their 50s, they are not old enough for Medicare. The wives are loyal and compassionate, but how do they survive financially and psychologically?
Listen, as we all get older this kind of circumstance will become more and more prevalent. Memory Care facilities are costly and there aren’t enough dementia care group homes. Also, they are understaffed, which brings to mind that this question: Is your loved one being treated with dignity?
So, yes, the spouses in this film face the wind, the challenges of caregiving without compensation, support or societal understanding.
In “Facing the Wind,” the particular brand of dementia addressed is called Lewy Body Dementia (LBD). It is often hard to diagnose because its effects vacillate so greatly. LBD affects thinking, movement, behavior, and mood. Hallucinations may occur. Currently over 1.4 million Americans have LBD. There is no exact cause or cure and diagnosis can begin as early as age 50.
Deirdre Fishel, the film’s director, muses that “almost every person will eventually need care or be a caregiver.” However, she goes on, our American “…ageist, ablest, individualistic society expects each person or family to manage care on their own despite more cries for government and community support.” As the baby-boomers crest into their 80s this is going to be a crippling experience for many families.
Fishel got caught up with the desire to focus her film on an interesting phenomenon. One group of LBD people set up an online support group. I was gripped when a man newly diagnosed admitted he had wanted to kill himself when he learned his diagnosis. The group leader asked everyone who had also considered that to raise their hands. They all did. “See, you’re not alone,” he somewhat comforted the newcomer.
One couple in the support group decided to take a road trip to distract themselves from just sitting in their livingroom thinking of the progressive nature of LBD. The others cheered them on and a map was made – maybe visiting some of the others in the group.
The support group isn’t enough to handle the daily physical distress of a disintegrating mind. But Fishel shows little ways they can be lifesavers. Of course, her bigger point is that we need a greater umbrella for Medicare.
This is an important, well-made film with high-profile executive producers.
Credits
Field Producer: Deirdere Fishel
Executive Producers: Mary Lou Falcone, Renée Fleming, Suzie and Bruce Kovner, Yo-Yo Ma, and David Hyde Pierce
Producer: Tony Heriza
Consulting Producer: Susan Margolin
Director of Photography: Eric Phillips-Horst
Assistant Camera and Location Sound: Paola Esquivel-Oliveros
Editor: Flávia de Souza
Assistant Editor: Brandon Valentin
Consulting Editor: Toby Shimin
Graphics: Will Rahilly
Composer: Chad Cannon
Released: World Premiere November 20, 2024
Website and how to see: https://facingthewindfilm.com/
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