Due to the State of the Union being changed to Jan. 31st, the national broadcast of Almost Home has been reschdeduled for Feb. 21st.

The movie is already provoking a lot of dialogue among those who have seen it. At the AAHSA screening it was pointed out how the film really does have two audiences, and how each involves a different strategy in terms of outreach. The first is the provider community, where those who are actively involved with person-directed care are familiar with the issues raised and are themselves able to be "translators" to other providers in their community who are less so (this is a great role for coalitions).

The second audience is the general public, and that's where the anxiety is greatest in terms of the "message" people will come away with. The film opens a door into the everyday life of a nursing home (one that's admittedly more resource-rich than most), and sadly the denial of aging in our society makes many people instinctively recoil from the realities of frailty. So they see a movie like Almost Home and they feel somewhat depressed because it's triggering emotions they would prefer not to confront. I think some folks are going to react that way no matter how far along the organizational culture change being portrayed -- they simply don't want to think about it.

But there are others in the general public (a lot more than we think, certainly among the PBS-viewing public) who will watch it and see it for what it is -- a powerful story about real people in an underappreciated arena of our society who are trying to create a new way. It's up to us as leaders to reach these folks in our own communities and say: