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About the Interviewer

Hello, I’m Robert. I’ve been interviewing the elderly professionally on camera since 2017, and I’d love to tell your story.

How I started

I grew up in Southern California where, from a young age, I began volunteering with my family and church in local senior centers and nursing homes. With several family members working in senior healthcare, I had numerous opportunities to converse with and get to know elderly individuals in our community. I learned a few things during this time:
 

  1. Our elders all have incredible stories to tell.
  2. Most people don’t give enough time and attention to the elderly.
  3. Talking to seniors takes some practice and patience.
As a student at Brigham Young University, I studied Public Health Promotion, and completed advanced certificates in Spanish and Gerontology. After graduating, I started working for a home health and hospice agency as a community liaison. During this time, I learned a few more valuable lessons:
  1. Hospice (end-of-life) care usually comes suddenly and progresses very quickly.
  2. During this time, families do everything they can to “catch up on lost time.”
  3. Although the final days/hours with a loved one are priceless, interactions and coherence are severely limited. Most of the personality is indistinguishable by this time.

I wanted to do something about these end-of-life challenges, and help the elderly make the most of their later years while they still could. While talking with my wife, she suggested I use my ability as a videographer to preserve the stories from these seniors. I loved the idea, and started working with local assisted living facilities to interview senior residents and document their stories through video.

What I do now

I work for SLC-based Eduro Healthcare, who operates 40+ skilled nursing facilities across 10 different states. My role is focused on the marketing and hospital relations, but I still love the regular interactions I get with patients every time I visit a facility.

I routinely interview my wife, kids, parents, siblings, and other members of my family as a way to preserve their stories and our family history. I sincerely believe in the importance of this work, and know my posterity will treasure the archives of stories I have captured. I continue my work with Grandma’s Preserves as a way to help others do the same.