Dependent aging: What does cinema show?

Abstract

This paper is an essay that understands art, particularly cinema, as a complementary resource for discussing health issues, and it is part of a reflection on multicentric research on dependent older adults conducted in eight Brazilian cities. The paper analyzes two movies that address the contingencies of dependent old age and the relationship between caregivers and people cared for. “Poetry” shows the impasses of an elderly woman who is economically and emotionally over-burdened, with early symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. The second movie, “What ever happened to Baby Jane?” exposes the delicate and complex relationship between the caregiver and cared person dyad. The paper aims to broaden the understanding of social processes such as aging, through cinema, encouraging the use of movies in continuing education settings involving researchers, students, and health workers.