2015 Oscar winners shine light on Alzheimer's and ALS

Sunday night’s 87th annual Academy Awards placed two serious diseases front and center – Alzheimer’s and ALS.

At Right at Home The Woodlands and Conroe we prioritize Alzheimer’s and Dementia Care and were pleased to see two different films tackling that issue.

Best Original Song nominee, “I’m Not Gonna Miss You” was written by country music legend Glen Campbell and featured in the documentary Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me. Campbell wrote it following his 2011 Alzheimer’s diagnosis and the moving performance by Tim McGraw had many members of the audience – including Campbell’s wife and daughter – in tears. Take a look.

Julianne Moore won Best Actress for her portrayal of a woman living with early onset Alzheimer’s in Still Alice. She said that she hopes that her win will “shed a light on Alzheimer’s disease. So many who have it feel isolated and marginalized. The wonderful thing about movies is that it makes us feel seen and not alone. They deserve to be seen so we can find a cure.”

Here is her gracious speech.

We also loved Eddie Redmayne’s exuberant acceptance of his Best Actor Oscar for playing renowned physicist Stephen Hawking. Many people had not even heard of ALS until the Ice Bucket Challenge became a viral sensation in 2014. Hawking has an unusual form of it and has inspired millions by living well past his life expectancy and continuing to lead an exceptionally productive life. The biopic, The Theory of Everything tells Hawking’s story and illuminates the struggles faced by individuals living with ALS.

Redmayne said, “I’m fully aware that I am a lucky, lucky man. This belongs to all of those people around the world battling ALS. It belongs to one exceptional family – Stephen, Jane, Jonathan and the Hawking children."