Queen Latifah is opening up about the time she was a caregiver for her mother Rita Owens.
The actress/rapper revealed that she will appear in an upcoming documentary called Beyond Breathless. The documentary will take a look into the “experiences and challenges of the people, caregivers, and medical professionals facing the lung disease, Interstitial lung disease or (ILD).
As described in Self magazine, ILD causes progressive, irreversible scarring of the lungs that can lead to life-threatening health issues like high blood pressure in the lungs, right-sided heart failure, and respiratory failure.
In 2018, Owens passed away from ILD and Latifah opened up about being her caregiver. “It was tough, I’m not going to lie. I was working a lot, as I always am. I think it was important to take a break sometimes. Take a hike, take a walk, and try to get some sleep,” she said.
She continued, “You know, just escape a little bit. Just watch something on TV, like some sci-fi. Mom and I would do that together. Or even get a massage, get some reflexology. The massage was important to us. I would give my mother massages. We had a massage table in the house, and so I would just give my mom a foot rub, or just a full-body massage.”
Queen Latifah went on to say that she doesn’t think that caregivers get enough support and hopes that more support can be created for caregivers.