2013: Year of the long-term care TV show?

At least three small-screen shows featured long-term care environments as their settings in 2013.

In mid-September, Netflix introduced “Derek” to subscribers’ television and computer screens. The comedy showcased a fictional English nursing home caregiver and his offbeat co-workers, who “struggle against prejudice, government bureaucracy and constantly shrinking budgets to care for the elderly residents who depend on them.”

In November, Showtime launched a six-part documentary series, “Time of Death,” exploring how terminally ill people face their own mortality and how they are supported by healthcare and hospice workers, family and friends.

Later that month, HBO debuted “Getting On,” a comedy about a fictional “ragtag crew” caring for elderly women at a hospital’s extended care unit “while dealing with the challenges of a healthcare bureaucracy in need of an overhaul.”

Episodes of all of these shows remain available for viewing online.

See other content by this author here.

Lois Bowers

Lois A. Bowers was senior editor of I Advance Senior Care / Long-Term Living from 2013-2015.