Deaf Caregiver Health Research

Due to stigma, there is a lack of awareness of dementia within the Deaf community and limited resources available for deaf caregivers who are caring for their loved ones with dementia. In this film, Frank and Eileen share their intense but heartfelt experiences with taking care of Frank’s mother who has dementia.

【Video description】

[0:00] The film begins with a soft white background with the title, “With Love,” in cursive, positioned to the top left of a black and white picture of a young female, Louise Ferrari Todesco, who is sitting in a lawn chair outside. To the right of the photo are the words: “Frank & Eileen share their story as caregivers for a loved one with dementia.”

[0:12] As the white introductory background fades, the video opens up with a middle-aged man and middle-aged woman sitting beside each other, each in their own sofa chair.

[1:05] A video of Louise signing the words “beautiful, beautiful!” appears on top of a black background. Below the video are the words, “Frank’s mother, Louise Ferrari Todesco, on their honeymoon circa July 1956 | Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.”

[1:13] A white background presents the text: “This documentary interview highlights Frank & Eileen’s experience caring for their loved one with dementia.” and below that are the words: “Rochester, New York: January 2020.” As these words fade away, the following words appear: “This work was supported by National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) of National Institutes of Health [R01DC014463-01A1 and R01DC014463-05S2 to Poorna Kushalnagar, Ph.D.]. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.”

[1:37] An image, in color, of Louise sitting on a lawn chair on a porch with a young boy sitting on her lap appears on top of a white background. To the left of the image are the words: “Preparing for what’s to come” and “‘That’s not my mom…’ – Frank.”

[1:48] A video of Louise and Frank cooking in a kitchen appears on top of a white background. Below that is the text: “Louise, age 89, was interviewed on one of her good days. February 2020.” The video fades back to Frank and Eileen in their chairs.

[1:58] The words “Eileen, daughter in law” appears below Eileen and “Frank, son” appears below Frank.

[2:12] A sepia-toned video filmed from inside a car capturing the windshield view of the freeway and other cars appears on top of a black background. Below that is the following text: “Frank going back & forth from Pennsylvania to New York every month since 2007.” The video fades back to Frank and Eileen in their chairs.

[5:15] A sepia-toned video of a woman pushing a green baby carriage with a baby inside appears on top of a black background. Below the video is the following text: “Mom Louise & Baby Frank” circa 1960 | Philadelphia, PA.” The video fades back to Frank and Eileen in their chairs.

[6:03] A video of Louise appears on top of a black background. She signs the following: “I am used to lipreading. I did not sign much. Now, I sign fairly well but I lipread much better! Ask… ask… ask…” and points to Frank in the background. The video fades back to Frank and Eileen in their chairs.

[9:39] A photo of Louise appears on top of a black background. Below the photo are the words: “Louise circa 1970 | Pennsylvania.” The video fades back to Frank and Eileen in their chairs.

[10:20] A white background appears with the words: “Get a living will and power of attorney. Work with a lawyer.” The video fades back to Frank and Eileen in their chairs.

[11:25] A white background appears with the words: “Keep legal documents up-to-date.” The video fades back to Frank and Eileen in their chairs.

[11:56] A purple-tinted image of a woman hugging a young boy who is standing on a chair appears. To the right of the image are the words: “Dealing with difficult emotions” and “‘So hard to let go…’ – Frank.”

[12:05] A video of Louise and Frank in a kitchen appears on top of a white background. Louise becomes visibly frustrated with a task when Frank steps in to help. Below that is the text: “Louise, age 89, was interviewed on one of her good days. February 2020.” The video fades back to Frank and Eileen in their chairs.

[12:12] The words, “LIAR! LIAR!” appears on top of a black background. The video fades back to Frank and Eileen in their chairs.

[13:20] A sepia-toned video filmed from inside a car capturing the windshield view of a road appears on top of a black background. The camera pans to a male driver. Below that is the following text: “Taking Louise to Rochester for good in July 2019 circa 1955 | Uncle Joe Ferrari driving on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.” The video fades back to Frank and Eileen in their chairs.

[14:01] A video of Louise in a kitchen appears on top of a black background. She signs, “He helped me a lot when I was sick in Philadelphia. He drove back and forth to help me. He drove back and forth to take care of the house, too.” The video fades back to Frank and Eileen in their chairs.

[14:32] The video fades to a black background with the text that states, “THE THIEF!” The video fades back to Frank and Eileen in their chairs.

[15:25] The words “FATHER’S RING” appear in front of a black background. The video fades back to Frank and Eileen in their chairs.

[16:02] The words “MOTHER’S VITAMINS” appear in front of a black background. The video fades back to Frank and Eileen in their chairs.

[18:31] A sepia-toned photo of a woman with a young boy and a younger girl standing on a sidewalk appears in front of a white background. To the right of the image are the words: “Supporting family care” and “We love Mom… – Eileen & Frank.”

[18:41] A sped-up video of Louise and Frank making meatballs in a kitchen appears in front of a white background. The video fades back to Frank and Eileen in their chairs.

[19:00] An image of a woman side-hugging a younger girl appears in front of a black background. Both of them have dark curly hair. The woman is wearing a white t-shirt printed with an “I love you” sign in ASL on the front. The image is captioned with a handwritten note: “you w yours Mom, 12 years old.” Below the image are the words, “Mom & Rosemary circa 1978 | Philadelphia, PA.” The video fades back to Frank and Eileen in their chairs.

[19:24] A video of Louise appears in front of a black background. She signs, “I am not against gay marriage. It is their business. Not my business! They are happy with what they want. I refuse to criticize them! It’s their own business! I refuse! Why the need to criticize them? It’s what they want! Right! Right! Today, everybody is gay! Leave them alone! Leave them alone! Leave them to God!” The video fades back to Frank and Eileen in their chairs.

[20:11] A sepia-toned video of a woman sitting on a couch and holding a baby appears in front of a black background. The woman signs to the baby, “Think he will wake up? Look at Daddy! Look!” She smiles and rocks the baby. Below the video are the words: “Mom Louise & Baby Frank circa July 1960 | Philadelphia, PA.” The video fades back to Frank and Eileen in their chairs.

[21:51] A black and white image of a man and a woman side-hugging each other appears on top of a black background. The man is significantly taller than the woman. Below the image are the words: “Anthony & louise circa July 1956 | Fairmont, West Virginia.” The video fades back to Frank and Eileen in their chairs.

[22:15] On top of a black background, four images of a man and a woman’s faces appear in the form of a strip of film from a photobooth. To the right, the following sentences appear: “Frank took care of his father for 2 ½ years. Frank has been taking care of his mother since 2007.” and “Anthony & Louise on their first date circa 1950 | Fairmont, West Virginia.” The video fades back to Frank and Eileen in their chairs.

[22:35] A video of Louise in a kitchen appears on top of a black background. She signs, “I like home. Lots of friends there! [in Philadelphia] Yeah… lots [of friends]. Deaf club where deaf senior citizens are… [in Philadelphia]. I like.. [there]. Here? I don’t know…?” The video fades back to Frank and Eileen in their chairs.

[23:13] A video of Louise smiling attentively to the surroundings around her as a small white and orange dog sits on her lap appears in front of a black background. The words “Louise & Sparky” appear under the video. The video fades back to Frank and Eileen in their chairs.

[23:27] A video of Louise expressing love and kisses in sign language as she sits on a couch appears. She signs, “Yes… [nodding]. Love. Love you. Love each other. Love. Kiss… kiss… kiss… kiss.” The video then fades into a white background with a picture of a family accompanied by the text, “With Love,” and “xoxo Us” in cursive. The credits then appear as follows:

CREDITS
PRODUCED | Center for Deaf Health Equity at Gallaudet University
DIRECTED | Stacy Lawrence
FILMED CAREGIVERS’ INTERVIEW | Hunter Luther
FILMED MOTHER’S INTERVIEW | Louise Ferrari Todesco
INTERVIEWEE | Frank Todesco
INTERVIEWEE | Eileen Todesco
STORYBOARD | Darian Slattery
EDITED | Daian Slattery & Stacy Lawrence
COLOR CORRECTIONS | Cody campbell 7 Spencer Ragona
OLD FILM CONVERSION | John Scroth
ENGLISH TRANSLATION | David Gratzer & Miriam Nathan lerner & Jamie Lerner
TRANSCRIPT | Bernard R. Hurwitz
CAPTIONS | Stacy Lawrence
LOUISE VOCAL RENDITION | Miriam Nathan Lerner
FRANK VOCAL RENDITION | Diane Lentz
EILEEN VOCAL RENDITION | Melissa Cayton-Lawrentz
SOUND ENGINEERING | Ethan Hurwitz & amanda Fudge
FAMILY MEMBER | Rosemary Todesco Latin
DEAF HEALTH EQUITY TEAM REVIEW | Dr. Poorna Kushalnagar
DEAF HEALTH EQUITY TEAM REVIEW | Dr. Donalda Ammons
DEAF HEALTH EQUITY TEAM REVIEW | Julia Velasquez

[24:03] The final frame ends with an image of a woman in an apron pointing to a man in chef’s clothes with a knowing look. The image has the words, “Marabella’s Restaurant” at the top left. The image is captioned with, “‘Thomas makes the veal roulade, but Louise still makes the meatballs.’ Chef Thomas, award-winning former executive chef of the Ritz-Carlton, has packed his pots and pans and moved to Marabella’s. He’s adding his own exciting flair to our new menus, but Louise still makes the meatballs.” The screen then fades to a white background overlaid with the Gallaudet University logo and to the right of that are the words “Gallaudet University Center for Deaf Health Equity.”