The Dementia Collective #38 is Live!

This episode can be found HERE

What if Hollywood’s dementia problem is not just what it shows, but what it leaves out?

In this episode, Andrew Karesa sits down with filmmaker, writer, director, producer, and caregiver advocate Susie Singer Carter to explore dementia, storytelling, long-term care, and the responsibility that comes with representing people who are too often misunderstood.

Susie shares the story of caring for her mother, Norma, how her experience shaped the Oscar-qualified short film My Mom and the Girl. The film was inspired by one extraordinary night in her mother’s life, a night filled with confusion, music, humour, tenderness, and unexpected connection.

The conversation also moves into Susie’s documentary series No Country for Old People, which was born from her mother’s final months in long-term care. After her mother suffered neglect in a highly rated facility, Susie began uncovering a much larger crisis around staffing, accountability, ageism, and the way vulnerable residents can disappear inside broken systems.

Andrew and Susie also examine dementia representation in Hollywood. They discuss why some portrayals feel authentic, why others can mislead, and how aging is too often turned into a caricature. Susie challenges the entertainment industry to tell better stories, not just more dramatic ones.

This is a conversation about caregiving, advocacy, stigma, film, and the fight to keep people with dementia visible, valued, and human.

In this episode:
• How Susie’s caregiving journey shaped My Mom and the Girl
• Why ethical storytelling matters in dementia representation
• The line between honesty and exploitation
• What Hollywood gets wrong about aging and dementia
• Why some dementia stories can reinforce stigma
• The long-term care crisis behind No Country for Old People
• How neglect, understaffing, and ageism shape care
• Why caregivers need better information before crisis moments
• How storytelling can expose harm, preserve dignity, and push for reform

Whether you are a caregiver, advocate, filmmaker, healthcare worker, or someone trying to understand dementia beyond stereotypes, this conversation asks us to look more carefully at the stories we tell, the people we overlook, and the systems we allow to continue.

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This work cannot be done alone. Every conversation, every story, and every episode helps shift how the world understands dementia. Your five dollars directly strengthens that impact.

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Don’t Forget to Sign Up for blueBell Connect

We are excited to announce that our patent-pending tool, blueBell Connect is now available for caregivers to sign up. 

blueBell Connect provides caregivers clinically valid, personally specific and culturally appropriate support recommendations in your daily care for individuals living with dementia. 

Click HERE for a blueBell Connect brochure

For more information, check out bluebellconnect.ca or email [email protected]

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