NO COUNTRY FOR OLD PEOPLE DIRECTOR PRODUCER SUSIE SINGER CARTER IS FIGHTING HARD TO CHANGE THAT

There’s always someone from every generation who takes the torch and runs with it, the 2024 Anthem Award-winning “No Country For Old Men” producer and director, Susie Singer-Carter, is one such person. Her tenacity for inspiring change is to be admired. After Singer-Carter witnessed her own mother experience devastating decline due to Alzheimer’s disease, she gained firsthand experience about the harsh and cold realities of our health care system; she found that the respect and monies that all families who plan to take care of their loved ones while aging had been grossly neglected. The very same system designed to take care of, to nurture, and to respect the elderly and those who are in poor health due to disease caused in some cases by forces outside of our control had turned their backs on her and her mom. This realization for Carter was that she had better do something and do it quick; after all, we all eventually age, get sick, grow old, and die. The disappointment, hurt, and outrage that she felt towards this situation had to be investigated and looked over with a fine-toothed comb. In the many visits that occurred over a long period of time, it was discovered that the staff was at times not present enough to attend to her mother's needs and that each time she called, a different person answered the phone, citing that her mom was asleep and unavailable. These kinds of discrepancies led Susie to begin the long and winding road of not only healing herself, but also having to stand by and watch her mother’s health decline in a way that no one should ever have to. The doctors and nurses, along with other staff, give up on patients with declining mental diseases similar to Alzheimer’s, and like Susie said, these are diseases that continue to decline; there are no cures, and over time the condition can become debilitating. The understaffing of facilities isn’t the only issue with nursing facilities; the profit-over-people mentality is the worst and most negative mindset to have when it comes to being of service to humanity. The logistics and cost-cutting for hiring the most capable staff and enough to manage these facilities result in systematic neglect and abuse found within five-star locations. Susie says that the Covid pandemic intensified these issues and exposed how frail the system was.
No Country for Old Men forces all of us to look at the reality of birth, old age, sickness, and eventually death. No one wakes up each day hoping to find themselves in the circumstances of needing support and care from others. It is true, however, that all of us will come to a time during our lives when we will face the death of our family and loved ones or our own. Should we be fortunate enough to live a long and prosperous life and manage to sustain our good health, this documentary will remind us that not everyone can sustain good health and that, by the natural order of things, we will all have to afford healthcare in some form or another. As we continue to expand our minds into the realm of AI and technology, wouldn’t it be a great idea to develop an app and program for our leaders and ambassadors of countries all over the world to show empathy and share a compassionate heart that we will all need when our time and their time comes.
Susie Singer-Carter's documentary, No Country For Old Men, was named a finalist in the Health and Awareness—Film, Video, Television, or Show category at the 4th Annual Anthem Awards. Press party. The documentary winning the 2024 Gold Anthem Award for Television and Film: Health Awareness further cemented its place among trailblazers who contributed to raising consciousness and resetting intention to do better as humans to help support each other when most needed.