On- and Off-Air Programs and Services

Delaware resident Florence Collins, pictured with her husband Russell who suffers from Alzheimer's-related dementia, shared her story in Circle of Love.
	Watch the Collinses in Circle of Love "Living with Alzheimer’s."

The goal of WHYY's Wider Horizons Service is to satisfy the needs of a diverse and growing audience by developing informational programming to help them make important decisions or simply to enjoy life more. Most notable in FY'04 were the short television segments and three-part Circle of Love series on Living with Alzheimer's, Caring for an Aging Parent and Caring for Children with Special Needs, which featured poignant, first-person accounts of the challenges and triumphs of dealing with disability, disease and aging in everyday life. Caring Community provided a phone bank of professionals who answered more than 700 viewer calls. A companion Web site offered a resource guide, as well as archives of related radio programs and webcasts. Two community preview screenings brought together the families featured in the TV documentaries with a live studio audience in a touching exchange of experiences.

In other programming initiatives, Dr. Dan Gottlieb, host of WHYY-FM's Voices in the Family, presented Wider Horizons radio specials focusing on caregiving, Alzheimer's and hospice care. Been There/Done That with Marty Goldensohn, WHYY-FM's national radio program, offered real life experiences of people finding their way, and the weekly Wider Horizons segment on Delaware Tonight gave viewers valuable health, financial and lifestyle information. WHYY also took advantage of the opportunity to reach its constituents with local outreach around national programs such as the PBS special The Forgetting: A Portrait of Alzheimer's.

The Forgetting: A Portrait of Alzheimer's aired on TV12 this year.

This spring, more than 200 people gathered for "What's Next? Reinventing Retirement," a public forum hosted by the National Constitution Center. This was the public launch of Coming of Age, a regional initiative to increase the engagement of older adults in volunteerism and lifelong learning. This collaboration is led by WHYY, Temple University's Center for Intergenerational Learning, the United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania and AARP-PA. The Forum is part of a three-year project funded by the Pennsylvania Department of Aging, which includes a public awareness campaign, a database of volunteer and lifelong learning opportunities in the region and training to help nonprofit organizations provide meaningful experiences and support for older volunteers.

WHYY's Wider Horizons Service tackled difficult topics by teaming with partners, listening to the voices of those living the caregiving experience and giving audiences a forum to confront sensitive issues. Most of all, the service made connections between a mass medium and individuals in need of information and support, providing experiences that helped influence how we live the rest of our lives.