Canary Health’s® Building Better Caregivers® (BBC) To Continue Supporting the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ Caregiver Support Program
In line with the federal government’s commitment to Support Family and Friend Caregivers across the U.S., this renewal extends the more than a decade partnership to provide education and support to caregivers of seriously ill or injured Veterans
Canary Health®, a leader in peer-led digital therapeutics, has continued its partnership with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to provide its Building Better Caregivers (BBC)® program, an evidence-based, online, six-week, peer-to-peer education and support program, to caregivers of seriously ill or injured U.S. Veterans from any era.
Building Better Caregivers online group education and support program is led by peers for peers and complements VA’s other Caregiver Support services. The program is available at no cost to all caregivers enrolled in the Caregiver Support Program. Interested caregivers of Veterans that qualify can sign up here.
In April 2023, the President signed an Executive Order that included more than 50 directives to nearly every cabinet-level agency to expand access to affordable, high-quality care, and provide support for care workers and family caregivers. More recently, the White House issued a proclamation further supporting caregivers by proclaiming November National Caregivers Month.
“After 10 years of partnering with VA to support caregivers, this extension further illustrates the Federal Government’s commitment to support caregivers and improve caregiver and care recipient’s outcomes,” said Katy Plant, MPH and General Manager at Canary Health. “With this extension, we’ll be able to significantly increase the number of caregivers we reach per year compared to prior years. We’re excited to continue the work we’ve done with VA and offer Building Better Caregivers to even more caregivers of Veterans.”
Core content of the BBC program includes methods to improve caregiver’s health, dealing with emotions, managing stress, managing difficult care-partner behaviors, solving problems, setting goals, finding resources, communicating with health professionals, navigating healthcare systems, managing medications, making decisions and planning for the future.
To date, more than 19,000 caregivers of Veterans have engaged in Canary Health’s Building Better Caregivers program. The program helps caregivers build skills, find resources, and connect with other caregivers. Participants have reported improved ability to support their loved ones struggling with chronic health and/or mental health conditions and increased confidence to accomplish goals important to their own health and to their roles as caregivers. Caregivers also frequently report reduced stress, better health behaviors, and more positive outcomes for their care partners.
“In addition to the expansion of VA BBC program, in just the past year we’ve seen the state of California make a major investment in supporting family and paid caregivers called CalGrows, a project supported by the California Department of Aging; and CMS announced a new care model for Medicare patients with dementia (GUIDE). The main goal is to provide more coordinated, ongoing care including supporting family caregivers. And for the first time, traditional Medicare (Fee for Service) will pay to support family caregivers,” commented Chairman of the Board and Chief Medical Officer at Canary Health, Neal Kaufman, MD, MPH. “We are proud to be selected by the Federal Government through VA, as well as the State of California, to deliver a caregiver support program to their population.”
By leveraging the power of peers, Building Better Caregivers offers participants the opportunity to learn from other caregiver participants and from trained facilitators that currently are, or have been, caregivers themselves. Click here if you are an organization that would like to learn more about the Building Better Caregivers program.
Caregivers of Veterans who are interested in participating in Building Better Caregivers should contact their local Caregiver Support Program staff (CSP). CSP staff are available at every VA Medical Center and can be located by visiting the CSP website at https://www.caregiver.va.gov/.
Caregivers of veterans can learn more about the Building Better Caregivers program by visiting va.buildingbettercaregivers.org.
