Comforting, scheduling, socializing, transporting, medicating, monitoring, managing, navigating, toileting, dressing, feeding, hydrating, bathing, grooming. Caring. More than 11 million Americans provide unpaid care for a family member or friend with dementia. While the healthcare industry has recently rallied around the importance of patient-centricity, the selfless people who care for these patients are undervalued, under-appreciated, and unsupported. Otsuka wanted to shine a light on this invisible industry and ignite conversations that spark systemic change, so caregivers can get the support they need. Despite facing a devastating disease, caregivers’ loved ones are still here. Despite the sometimes overwhelming responsibility, caregivers are still here for their loved ones. And despite a society that largely ignores them, caregivers are still here. To raise awareness and shine a light on the universal emotional, financial, and mental health struggles of caregivers, Otsuka built a platform for a diverse group of caregivers to share their stories. With Still Here, a series of short-form videos, Otsuka aimed to educate non-caregivers and make caregiver viewers feel seen, heard, and valued.
PRE-PRODUCTION: With the vulnerable subject matter of the Still Here series, talent selection was the most important stage of the process. Turning to social media, we searched for caregivers from all walks of life who had already shared parts of their stories online. We were extremely fortunate to find caregivers in a variety of situations. A woman caring for both parents; a TV writer who gave up her dream job to care for her mother; “sandwich caregivers” caring for their own parents while navigating being parents themselves. After initial Zoom calls to get to know each of these resilient individuals and uncover the themes unique to each of their stories, the creative team worked to build a set that was comfortable, beautiful, and respectful to the stories being shared.
PRODUCTION: With stipends provided to each caregiver to ensure that the loved ones they care for had the highest quality of care while they were away, each of the caregivers flew to New York City for a single-day interview shoot. Each caregiver had a full day on set: plenty of breaks, plenty of down time, and plenty of time to get comfortable sharing their authentic perspectives in front of the camera. These full-day shoots were an incredible testament to the magic that happens when you slow down and really get to know someone. Over the course of each shoot day, we talked about so many elements of the caregiving experience: the fear, the doubt, the confusion, the simple joys, and the endless love that each caregiver shares.
POST-PRODUCTION: With so much incredible footage captured during the shoot, the team moved into the editing phase. On top of editing each of the five caregiver’s stories into videos of their own, we found opportunities to create three topic-themed videos featuring multiple caregivers: “Social Media”, “Mental Health”, and "Financial Impact." In addition to each of these videos, 15- and 30-second cutdowns were created as teasers for social use to drive viewers to the full videos. All eight full-length videos are currently available to stream on Otsuka’s YouTube page.
The final videos exceeded our high expectations: cathartic, empathetic, and fearlessly educational vignettes of the caregiving experience.
The premiere episode of Still Here, Bailey, was a breakthrough success, with a conversion rate 389% above benchmark. Since then, the series has continued reaching viewers with strong momentum; to date, the videos have a combined 928k+ views. Much more important than the quantitative data are the reactions this series has received from caregivers. Below are some quotes from social media comments on clips from the series: “What you said is what I feel—I’ve just not had the courage to vocalize my fear. You are awesome and thank you for your words.” “I feel so seen” “Soooo many like emotions and thoughts watching this. I’m not alone. THANK YOU!!” “Words sometimes I can’t articulate to others 🙏🏽. Beautiful” “Wow this hit. I feel this way at times too” “Yes yes yes I so feel what you are saying!” The response to the series has been overwhelmingly positive from the featured caregivers and their online communities, who have praised the series' transparency and encouragement. While editing of additional "season 2" videos is currently underway, Otsuka is excited to continue sharing these powerful caregiver stories.
