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.
Abridged version by Neal Kaufman, originally written by Leroy Hood appearing in the LA Times “America was sick before COVID-19 struck. The pandemic has made our national sickness more acute and illustrated the critical importance of “wellness” in preventing disease and optimizing health. We know this because COVID disproportionately impacted people with chronic illness […]
By Wendy Wood Resilience is the courage to grow from stress. But, how do we become more proficient at becoming more resilient? Here are some ideas: Resilience is: the building of our inner resources, and, the identification of reliable external resources. Resilience is: self-confidence that supports fear-management. Resilience is: the ability to stabilize […]
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 […]
By Wendy Wood Yoga was the air I breathed and the food I ate; until it wasn’t. A back injury came between my yoga-yes and my yoga-no status. When practicing yoga was no longer an option for me, I was left with a shattered self-image and a directionless routine. If I didn’t practice yoga, […]
By Canary Coaches Team Canary Coaches are healthcare professionals who provide support to individuals who want to lower their risk of developing type 2 diabetes by losing weight and becoming more active. With the heightened recognition of structural racism, we are increasingly aware how our biases influence our thoughts, words, and actions. We have […]
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 […]