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'Your Turn to Care' Hosted by Holly Robinson Peete Debuts on KCET

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'YOUR
TURN TO CARE' HOSTED BY HOLLY ROBINSON PEETE

DEBUTS ON
KCET

holly_robinson_peete_hi-res1-thumb-300x193-25280

Docuseries
explores the critical issues around caregiving for aging loved ones and
features leading experts on aging, including acclaimed author Gail Sheehy.

Actors
Hector Elizondo, Monica Potter, Robert David Hall and Patricia Richardson share
personal caregiving stories with viewers.

LOS ANGELES--February 23, 2012--KCET, the nation's largest independent public
television station serving Southern and Central California,
announced a new original documentary series on caregiving hosted by Holly
Robinson Peete called Your Turn to Care,
airing on KCET March 7 at 8 p.m. (repeats
3/8 at 2:30 p.m. and 3/10 at 4:30 p.m.) and March 14 at 8 p.m. (repeats 3/15 at 2:30 p.m. and 3/17 at 4:30
p.m.)

The new
documentary series produced by KCET explores a challenge that America's growing
generation of baby boomers were never prepared for: taking care of ailing or
aging loved ones.  Four, half-hour episodes focus on different families who
find themselves at pivotal stages along the caregiving path, offering viewers solutions and hope through inspiring
stories and a multitude of resources (full episodic descriptions below).

Robinson
Peete, an acclaimed actress and award-winning author, takes viewers on journeys
into this often heart-wrenching passage of life exploring the overwhelming
challenges faced by caregivers of every ilk. She also shares her own
experiences of caring for her father who had Parkinson's disease.  

The documentaries
also feature personal stories of caregiving from actors Hector Elizondo (Last Man Standing), Monica Potter (Parenthood), Robert David Hall (CSI Crime Scene Investigation) and
Patricia Richardson (Home Improvement).

In
addition, expert voices from across the community will help contextualize these
complex issues for viewers. They include:

  • Gail
    Sheehy, best-selling author of 16
    books on aging and key passages of adulthood, including Passages in
    Caregiving: Turning Chaos into Confidence
  • Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez
  • Dr.
    Gary Small, a renowned expert at UCLA who studies longevity, aging, Alzheimer's
    prevention and memory, and best-selling author of seven books, including The Alzheimer's Prevention Program
  • Dr.
    Fernando Torres-Gil, director of the Center for Policy Research on Aging at
    UCLA, and author of more
    than 80 articles and six books, including The New Aging: Politics and
    Change in America

Viewers can also access the show's robust companion web site (www.yourturntocare.org) to explore a wealth of additional information, such as
extended interviews and back stories, helpful links and resources as well as
tips from guest experts.

Your Turn to Care is made possible by MetLife
Foundation, California Community Foundation, The Lippey Family Trust, Gladyce
L. Foster.

Episodes
include:

Episode
1

focuses on two families. We meet the first at the beginning stages of
caregiving, when even talking about planning for the future is an issue no one
wants to address. The episode shows "the talk" the family has with an aging
parent which covers such topics as, 'Who has power of attorney?', 'What should
go into a health directive?' and 'How can I draft a will that is stress free?'
The second family is dealing with the issue of taking the car keys away from an
aging parent as well as the desperation felt by the mother's loss of her
driver's license. When the mother is required to take a driving test at the age
of 75, her very independence is at stake. 

The episode concludes with a profile of WISE Connections, one of
several membership-based community groups sprouting up across the country.  These communities, part of the growing "Village
Movement," pool their resources to provide practical services to their members,
so that seniors may continue living independently in their own homes.

Episode
2

illustrates the constant burden placed on the caregiver and how it can be
overwhelming for the entire family. Three caregivers and their families are
profiled; a male caregiver taking care of his wife who has a frontal lobe
disease; a daughter who has put her life on hold to take care of her 95-year
old father; and a daughter who has moved her parents in with her and struggles
to juggle her own busy life with the demands of being her parent's caregiver.

Episode
3

deals with three families who discover they can't do it all and need to reach
out for help from institutions and elder care professionals and attorneys. This
highly emotional decision can be extremely costly if you don't have long-term
care insurance or qualify for government assistance. The world of assisted
living facilities and financial benefits is complex and difficult to navigate
especially, when a crisis occurs.

Episode
4

explores the final chapter of caregiving and how palliative care can change the
way both the patient and his or her caregivers take this final journey. And,
Steve Lopez, renowned writer for the Los
Angeles Times
reveals his own personal story of caring for his aging
father. While the episode explores the inevitable, it also shares the stories
of three remarkable "super seniors" who are re-defining what it means to grow
old. Today, we are both taking control over how we die and discovering ways to
prevent it as long as possible.

ABOUT HOLLY ROBINSON PEETE

Actress, author, talk show host, activist and philanthropist,
Holly Robinson Peete has been touched by the entertainment industry all of her
life.  Her television career as an actress dates back nearly three
decades. Her life experience has led her to becoming a voice for her father,
her son and her community.

In 1996, Robinson Peete and her husband, former NFL quarterback
Rodney Peete, formed the HollyRod Foundation, inspired by her father's
courageous battle with Parkinson's disease, with the mission to help improve
the quality of life of people with Parkinson's. Then in 2005, inspired by their
oldest son's autism diagnosis, HollyRod Foundation's mission expanded to
provide access to treatment, support and other resources to disenfranchised
families affected by autism.  Through HollyRod Foundation and her family's
personal experiences, Robinson Peete has become an advocate for consistent and
reliable education, support and compassionate care for both Parkinson's and
autism.  

Her autism advocacy also extends to her book co-written with
daughter, Ryan Elizabeth Peete. In 2010,they released their award winning
children's picture book about autism from the sibling's perspective,
entitled My Brother Charlie (Scholastic).  A follow up
book exploring autism and adolescence is due out in 2012.

Over the years, Holly has received numerous accolades and
awards for her philanthropic work : from the Anheuser Busch John E.
Jacob Community Service Award to
her most recent honor, Thurgood
Marshall Foundation Award. In addition to her philanthropic work through
her own foundation, Robinson Peete has become involved in other organizations
as well.  She currently sits on the Board of Directors of Autism
Speaks,
 the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association (GLAZA) and
the Keck School of Medicine of USC.

ABOUT KCET

On-air,
online and in the community, KCET plays a vital role in the cultural and
educational enrichment of Southern and Central California. KCET offers a wide
range of award-winning local programming as well as the finest public
television programs from around the world. KCET currently produces the Emmy®,
duPont-Columbia and Peabody Award-winning SoCal
Connected
, a hard-hitting prime-time weekly television news program that
examines the issues and people of Southern California. Throughout its 48-year history,
KCET has won hundreds of major awards for its local and regional news and
public affairs programming, its national drama and documentary productions, its
quality educational family and children's programs, its outreach and community
services and its website, kcet.org. KCET is a donor-supported community
institution. For additional information about KCET productions, web-exclusive
content, programming schedules and community events, please visit kcet.org.

# # #

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