Uzo Aduba Details 'Challenging' and 'Emotional' Experience of Being a Caregiver for Her Late Mom (Exclusive)

Uzo Aduba is using the memory of her and her siblings caring for their late parents to make a difference.

The former Orange Is the New Black star, 44, narrates the upcoming documentary Caregiving, which is executive produced by Bradley Cooper and premieres on PBS on June 24.

Aduba, now starring on Netflix's The Residence, says her personal experience and desire to advocate for reform in the caregiving space that affects millions motivated her to get involved.

“The doc is a step in pursuing policy changes that greatly affect and impact the lives of many Americans in terms of the support, financially and professionally, with caregiving leave,” Aduba tells PEOPLE.

“I just wonder and imagine what sort of ease that might've had in my own life personally and professionally, as someone who has served as a caregiver, if there had been some infrastructure frameworks in place,” she says.

Reflecting on her role as a caregiver, Aduba recalls, “I, along with my sisters and brothers, were caregivers to my parents before they passed away.”

Aduba helped care for her mom, Nonyem, who died from pancreatic cancer in 2020; her brother cared her for their dad.

“That’s no small job. I spent almost two years doing that for her, and I experienced an incredible load of stress. It's a job unto itself frankly,” Aduba says.

Related: Uzo Aduba Explains How Her Role on 'In Treatment' Was 'Deeply Healing' After Her Mother's Death

Though Aduba had known others who had served as caregivers, she admits that nothing compares to the isolation and difficulty of the experience until you live it yourself.

“I couldn't ever really understand it concretely, particularly from the elder space, until it was my turn,” she shares.

“It feels like your whole world has turned upside down in some way and the world is still spinning while you're still trying to figure out how to navigate all the parts of this role that you just really maybe never expected to have," she continues. "You just realize what a huge chasm exists in the knowledge of what that role really means. And we should have more information.”

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Through her narration in the upcoming doc, Aduba tells the stories of others, revealing the challenges and triumphs they face each day in looking after loved ones in need.

“I think you see the common thread that exists in the caregiving space, I certainly felt that way when I was listening to stories,” she says. “Though there were nuances that could help me to distinguish their experience from my own, what is consistent in every story was just how much work it is and how much love you have for that person."

"Caregivers have these really challenging experiences — and because it's just not something we talk about, it feels like you're going through it alone and in silence. I think that can make it really emotional,” Aduba adds.

Aduba, who believes that “caregiving is the rent we pay for our time here on Earth,” appreciates the understanding between other caregivers, including Cooper, whose experience with his own father, Charles, while he faced lung cancer, inspired the documentary.

“It was comforting, I would say, to know that there's a person in my industry, in my orbit, who's been through this same thing and made it to the other side,” Aduba says of Cooper, 50.

“It’s also nice to know who cares about this issue — and it's doing the thing of ringing the bell to make it less of a silent conversation and more of a public one,” she says.

Related: Bradley Cooper Recalls the Moment He Held His Late Father as He Died: 'Everything Changed'

For viewers of the documentary who have never been caregivers themselves, Aduba says she hopes they come away with a deeper understanding of those people face and the support they need.

“Maybe consider checking in ... and just ask them how they're doing today,” she continues. “I always make a point of saying, ‘You're doing great,’ because there's no one way to do it and there's no one way to get it right.

She adds, "Everybody's just trying to do the best they can with what they know, and that's enough.”

Read the original article on People