Having been a facilitator on Better Choices, Better Health(BCBH)®for many years, and prior a participant in the BCBH program, Pat has a deep understanding of how an online group workshop led by peer facilitators who have been in their shoes, can truly have a positive impact on their health. “Participants often say (after diagnosis), […]
Evelyn, a veteran herself, wants to give back to veterans for their service. She is currently caring for another veteran but found she didn’t know what was involved with caregiving, and felt she was on an island by herself. Then she found the Building Better Caregivers® program. Now she knows she can take on the […]
Facilitator Val, having gone through cancer as a child and experiencing first hand what caregiving looks like, shares how that experience, along with the caregiving she has given to her family over the years, has helped her relate better as a peer to participants in the Canary Health Building Better Caregivers program, than if she […]
Thelma, a participant in and now a facilitator for Building Better Caregivers® (BBC) online workshops shares the value of peer support facilitators vs workshops led by non-peer facilitators. She explains how it improves the health and well-being of Canary Health’s workshop participants, and how outcomes of the caregiver and their patient improve. Schedule A […]
Meet Robin, also known as DesertBlu. Robin was a caregiver to her mom and dad for over 10 years. During that time she signed up for Building Better Caregivers®(BBC) and Better Choices, Better Health®(BCBH). Later she became a Canary Health® facilitator for BBC and BCBH to stress the importance of proactive care. Listen to her […]
Eldonia, Caregiver for her father, a Navy Veteran, learned to find time for herself and even improved her health by participating in the 6-week online Building Better Caregivers® workshop. Schedule A Meeting
Like many caregivers, Gloria found herself in the unexpected role of caregiver for her husband, a disabled Veteran. She struggled to find support and resources for at-home family caregivers with no formal training. “I felt like I was in it by myself, no one understood. If I didn’t take care of myself first – mentally […]
By Lee Woodruff, AARP Most caregivers have a complicated relationship with self-care. We keep a polite smile on when someone (usually not actively caregiving) tells us, “Make sure you take care of yourself, too!” Sure. Of course. Easier said than done. So how do you find ways to incorporate very specific actions and physical […]
By Eileen J. Tell, Mph; Pamela Nadash, Phd;Marc A. Cohen, Phd This report is one of two components of the RAISE Family Caregivers Act. Family caregivers were provided multiple forums to express their needs and challenges, thoughts and concerns. This report identifies findings from the forums and identify the specific services, supports or policy […]
November is National Family Caregivers Month in honor of all that caregivers do. But despite caregiving around the clock, caregivers are so much more. Building Better Caregivers®(BBC) graduate Paula cares for her husband, a Vietnam Vet with diabetes, Parkinson’s, heart disease and dementia. Before taking BBC, Paula had no time for herself. After the workshop, her […]
Diane looked forward to retiring when her husband retired, imagining they would enjoy a life of traveling together. Her husband’s unexpected diagnosis changed their plans however, but it didn’t throw a wrench in them. Find out how she approaches caregiving for her husband after taking the Building Better Caregivers® (BBC) 6-week online workshop. Watch How Diane Became a Better […]
Mary, Caregiver for her son, shares how the Building Better Caregivers® online workshop helped her better manage the challenges of caregiving for her Veteran. See how support from Caregivers and trained leaders in the BBC workshop helped her take time for herself, and make progress on her path to wellness for her Vet.
By Venus Wong, PhD, BCBA, Sarah Rosenbaum, MD, MPH, Winnie Sung, MBChB,Robert M. Kaplan, PhD, Nicholas Bott, PhD, Terry Platchek, MD, Arnold Milstein, MD,Nirav R. Shah, MD, MPH We were pleased to see our Building Better Caregivers® (BBC) program as part of a New England Journal of Medicine catalyst publication where the authors present […]
Like many, Amy felt isolated during the pandemic. Symptoms such as stress and anxiety began to impact her emotional health. Even though she doesn’t have a physical chronic condition, the peer support in Better Choices, Better Health helped her better manage those symptoms to improve her overall health and well-being.
By Carrie Pittman Maria Pfeiffer was a student studying behavior change models including the Chronic Disease Self-Management Program (CDSMP) when she was unexpectedly diagnosed with a chronic condition. The intersection of her life’s work and her personal life was illuminated by the benefits of peer support — the very foundation of her studies. […]
Sara had never tried a group support program to manage her chronic pain before signing up for a Better Choices, Better Health®(BCBH) online workshop. Over the course of the 6-week workshop, she discovered how group support helped her refocus to better manage her chronic pain.
By Katy Plant & Corina Paraschiv Managing pain is one of the most desired skills mentioned, as identified in our most recent survey with chronically ill patients. Over the past few months, we have taken this insight further by identifying underlying goals and motivations of individuals living with chronic pain. You may, in fact, […]
Barbara, a full-time Caretaker for her husband with a cognitive impairment, learned how to be a better Caregiver after taking the Building Better Caregivers® 6-week online workshop. Resources, new techniques improving communication, and support from other Caregivers helped her to better manage her emotional and physical health.
By Katy Plant & Corina Paraschiv Over the last few months we have been taking a deep dive to better understand user’s motivations in order to align our product to what our users find valuable. We started our journey a few months back when we looked at what motivates participants to want to make changes […]
OEBB Moda member Beth shares how the Better Choices, Better Health® (BCBH) online workshop has helped her better manage her chronic conditions through sharing with others in the program. “This program approaches participants from the heart. I appreciated the support of the facilitators. I enjoyed hearing others share their challenges, as it was comforting to […]
By Katy Plant & Corina Paraschiv More than three decades ago, the original Better Choices, Better Health®(BCBH) research team identified the important skills to develop for those self-managing chronic conditions. While these skills are consistent, the motivation for achieving healthy living goals, however, may vary greatly from one individual to another. So to better […]
Sara had never tried a group support program to manage her chronic pain before signing up for a Better Choices, Better Health®(BCBH) online workshop. Over the course of the 6-week workshop, she discovered how group support helped her refocus to better manage her chronic pain.
This Fall, VA Caregiver Support Services will be expanding their program of comprehensive assistance for family caregivers. Over the last 6 years, our Building Better Caregivers® (BBC) program has been available to all Caregivers who are caring for a Veteran from any era. To date over 9,000 Caregivers have enrolled in Building Better Caregivers. The […]
Samanta is a Caregiver for her husband, a Navy Veteran. Several years after they married, she noticed a change in his behavior. As he became more distant, she grew frustrated and even angry at times. When she discovered the Building Better Caregivers® (BBC) online workshop, she signed up in the hopes it could help her […]
Idena is a Caregiver for her husband, a Vietnam Vet. They struggled to communicate, and went through periods where he simply didn’t want to talk. She would get frustrated when he spoke of the war, because in her mind, it’s long over. But she kept trying; kept building her fortitude and resilience. She even moved […]
This month, we celebrate the life of our colleague Kathleen Mahoney who passed away in early August. Like many of our peers, Kathleen had facilitated our online workshops for close to a decade helping hundreds of workshop participants and was a close colleague and friend to many. She was a seasoned facilitator and became a […]
By Wendy Wood Many, many, years ago, I found myself in a drug store looking for a band-aid for my boyfriend. For the first time in my life, “flesh color” did not denote the color of skin I was trying to match. My mind was blown that I had never noticed this before. I […]
As committed, I want to be accountable to you, to the broader community to reducing any bias in our organization and our programs. Here, I am reporting on what we have done this month to ensure that we continue our effort. This month we reviewed our workshop demand projections and the staffing needs given […]
By Serena Weisner -Community Manager for Canary Peer’s Alumni Community “I don’t know how long we’re going to be in the midst of this COVID situation. I can sit around and complain about it and be bitter, or I can do other things to help myself.” Sara communicated to me. She said it […]
By Katy Plant Reflecting on how Canary Peers can best support the Black Lives Matter movement, I am reminded that cultural humility is one of our program’s guiding principles and that it starts with listening. So I am sharing a snippet of Starette’s story as captured through a Canary Peers’ team member, Kathryn Ramos. […]