After making a corporate commitment late last year to advocate for family caregivers, Otsuka America Pharmaceutical is making good on that promise.
In its latest effort to support caregivers, the drugmaker has signed on as the lead founding sponsor of a new documentary film sharing the personal stories of family caregivers, it announced Wednesday. The film, which is slated for release on PBS in spring 2025, comes from Washington, D.C.-based public media station WETA and has signed on actor Bradley Cooper as an executive producer.
The two-hour film, titled “Caregiving,” will follow what WETA describes as a “diverse group of caregivers” as they navigate the ups and downs of caring for a sick family member. Its aim is to humanize the mounting issues of lost earnings from unpaid caregiving work and a long-term care system that’s on the verge of crisis due to an aging population and rising life expectancy in the U.S.
In a teaser trailer released Wednesday, Cooper describes his own experience helping to care for his father after a cancer diagnosis. Over clips of caregivers in action, activist Ai-jen Poo discusses the need for greater recognition and support for the “invisible army” that’s holding up not just their own families, but the entire economy—and who are on the verge of burnout due to that immense pressure.
“Caregiving” is the latest installment in WETA’s “Well Beings” campaign, a long-running, multiplatform initiative to raise awareness, boost education and decrease stigma around mental health. Otsuka previously served as lead founding sponsor for the Ken Burns-produced docuseries “Hiding in Plain Sight: Youth Mental Illness” which premiered in 2022 as part of the campaign.
Ahead of the new film’s debut, beginning this fall, WETA will kick off an online campaign that’ll share additional digital content highlighting family caregivers. It’ll also team up with fellow PBS member stations and other partners on an audience engagement campaign that’ll include events and educational materials that’ll shine a light on the nationwide impacts of caregiving.
“At some point, many people become a caregiver to a loved one in need. Along the journey, they will likely endure countless challenges, self-sacrifice, and moments of doubt. It is critical that caregivers receive acknowledgment and the resources necessary to thrive in their lives,” Tarek Rabah, president and CEO of Otsuka North America Pharmaceutical Business, said in a statement.
“At Otsuka, we’re committed to leading an industry-wide shift in the ways caregivers are valued and supported in their service to others,” Rabah continued. “This is why I am thrilled that Otsuka is also the lead, founding sponsor for WETA’s upcoming ‘Caregiving’ project to help shine a bright light on this critically important—yet often overlooked—community within the healthcare industry.”
The film sponsorship comes just a few months after Otsuka announced its corporate initiative around caregiving. Since then, it has developed video content, community-building events, social media accounts, online screening tools and Otsuka employee benefits, all aimed at supporting family caregivers.
The initiative has so far focused primarily on those caring for loved ones with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, though Otsuka has said it plans to expand the caregiver commitment into other disease areas.
Meanwhile, Otsuka has also ramped up advertising for Rexulti, which took home the TV pharma ad spending crown in April. Rexulti, an antipsychotic medication developed in collaboration with Lundbeck, recently earned an FDA label expansion allowing it to treat dementia-related agitation—sparking the creation of an ad that debuted last summer and targets Alzheimer’s caregivers to inform them of the potential new treatment.