New Docuseries Shines a Spotlight on Caregiving

Peter Murphy Lewis understands the dedicated work that caregivers perform. After hosting a TV show in South America, he moved back to the United States about five years ago and became a Certified Nurse’s Aid, working in long-term care. He also started a long-term care podcast.

Reflecting on the care his grandparents received in nursing homes and memory care settings, he wanted to pay back the frontline caregivers who cared for his grandparents. He found inspiration in the TV show he’d hosted, which was similar to Dirty Jobs, and desired to create something similar around the work of caregivers.

Capturing the Lives of Caregivers

Peter Murphy Lewis, documentarian, TV host, and podcaster

When Lewis met the CEO of the Nebraska Health Care Association, he pitched the idea for a docuseries. People Worth Caring About, the seven-episode docuseries, explores the career opportunities and rewards of working in Nebraska’s nursing homes and assisted living communities.

The Nebraska Health Care Association created a list of 20 diverse, high-quality, award-winning facilities in Nebraska, with Lewis and his director selecting eight facilities from the list. They planned to film across seven days, but had an eighth facility in place as a backup.

One of the reasons why the Nebraska Health Care Association wanted to do the docuseries was to highlight people’s passion about the caregiving industry, and to use it to get the attention of non-long-term care employees. During interviews, Lewis asked about the staffing shortages and found that frontline staff largely had a positive outlook on the staffing conditions.

“I sense that the people who are in it for the long term, who have already outlasted COVID, they don’t get burnout enough to give up on the cause,” says Lewis. Instead, he heard stories of frontline workers who connected friends, second cousins, and other individuals to the senior care industry, and who truly loved their jobs and their employers. According to Lewis, instead of caregivers seeing the glass as half empty, none of them complained, and instead were determined to succeed in their roles.

Lessons in Caregiving

Lewis was surprised to see how many younger individuals had the self-awareness to find their passion in life before age 25 or 30. “I find that a lot of us figure out what we want to do in life maybe at 30, 35, 40, or 45 after a midlife crisis, when we go for the money or we go for corporate or we go for power or we go for fame,” he explains. “But to see that there are these beautiful 20-year-olds who find it before I did in life is really, really inspiring.”

He also highlights the numerous opportunities for advancement in the senior care industry. He met numerous individuals who entered these communities as kitchen, maintenance, or medical aid staff. “Now they’ve moved further up, and there are a lot of organizations that are investing into their employees to do that,” says Lewis.

The docuseries has already been a success in numerous ways. It provides an honest and heartfelt look at the varied work of caregivers. Lewis meets and visits with wellness directors, physical therapists, culinary associates, facility directors, resident services coordinators, and more. The episodes detail not only the care that residents receive, but also the relationships forged between residents and caregivers.

Lewis notes several personal successes. His father described watching the premier as “one of the proudest moments in [his] life,” and Lewis’ wife realized how important the docuseries is and encouraged him to find more states and film more episodes.

A few weeks after the docuseries’ release, Lewis saw someone reshare the entire series on YouTube. It was a mother of one of his high school friends whom he hasn’t seen since 1999. She told viewers to go watch his documentary, relaying that she’d watched all seven episodes the night before. “I never in my life ever wanted to go into long-term care,” she said. “This documentary changed my opinion. And now I’m excited to find a senior living community like I saw here.”

Lewis hopes the docuseries will have another important effect – to encourage viewers to go into the senior care industry. “I want to steal that 16-year-old to that 22-year-old who is going to work in retail or a mall or any gig job or any fast food place, or who is going to fill up their time by going to community college because they don’t really know what they want to do,” he says. “I want to steel all those people into long-term care and healthcare so they can be as fulfilled and have as big an impact as the people I interviewed.”

Future Episodes and Additional Learning

Given the success of the existing seven episodes, Lewis has plans to film more. He completed 10 days of filming in Ohio and will film in New Mexico in May. Three additional states are also interested in being featured in 2025.

Three workbooks have also grown out of the docuseries’ creation. One workbook supports Nebraska’s career days for middle and high schoolers. It includes content for each episode in the seven-part series, so students can watch the episodes and then answer questions reflecting on the content.

A second workbook is designed for seniors and residents. Activities directors can show the series to their residents, then ask questions prompted by the workbook such as “Who in our community does this work?”

A third workbook is dedicated to HR initiatives, focusing on staff empowerment and retention. After watching an episode from the series, HR personnel, the CEO, or the Director of Nursing can lead a team discussion by posing thoughtful questions such as, “Who are the heroes within our community that we just saw in this episode?” This encourages reflection, engagement, and a deeper connection among staff.

The docuseries is currently available on YouTube, and Lewis plans to further expand it in 2026. If any states would like to be considered or senior care communities feel an individual within their community should be recognized, Lewis encourages them to contact him on LinkedIn.

Paige Cerulli

Paige Cerulli is a contributing writer to i Advance Senior Care.