The Stress-Busting Program (SBP) for Family Caregivers
is an evidence-based program that provides support to family caregivers of persons with dementia. It is part of the WellMed Charitable Foundation's (WCF) Caregiver SOS, which your Big Give donation will help continue.
The SBP has demonstrated statistically significant
reductions in caregiver stress, depression, anger/hostility, and anxiety, as well as improvements in a sense of control and perceived quality of life.
It takes a holistic approach addressing emotional, physical, spiritual, and cognitive needs of the caregivers. Participants meet for nine weeks for 90 minutes per week.
In excerpts from an article about the program by Vince Davis in the San Antonio Express-News:,
"Before the classes, Helen Stumpff's life was filled with frustration. And day by day, she struggled with her feelings as she cared for her 78-year-old husband, Ralph, who had Alzheimer's disease.
As his symptoms grew worse, so did her anxiety.
The man she knew began to withdraw beyond her reach. He stopped reading. He stopped watching television. And he stopped in one room, sitting for hours.
She didn't realize how much the disease had affected her until a friend intervened. She took Stumpff to the Alicia Treviño López Senior One-Stop Center at 8353 Culebra Road, where she met Joye McQueen, a caregiver specialist. McQueen listened as Stumpff talked about feeling irritated at times with the man she had been married to for 54 years.
"They teach you that you're stronger than you think," Stumpff, 74, said. "I learned to take a deep breath and stop frow
ning. It made a difference of how to handle things."
Stumpff is a recent graduate of the Community Stress-Busting Program for Family Caregivers, which offers caregivers problem-solving methods, relaxation techniques and information on how to care for themselves while caring for a relative with Alzheimer's or a related dementia.
"Literally, you'll hear the words, 'You saved my life,'"said Carol Zernial WCF Executive Director. "It's wonderful to see that transformation from when they come into the program and then at the end after they've been given tools for how to survive." . Read the entire article.
