Category Archives: Caregiver Matters
BEST & Etopia: A Partnership For the Pandemic Era
We have been offering discussion groups, workshops, and presentations in Second Life since 2009 and opened our official Second Life office at Etopia in 2010.
In May of 2020 we moved all of our programming online and into our main campus; also at Etopia. Because of the restrictions the COVID-19 pandemic placed on our community BEST deepened other Second Life collaborations with long standing partners like Peninsula College in WA, Whole Brain Health in Second Life, Virtual Ability, and others. In November 2020 BEST assumed ownership of Etopia as part of our online suite of service platforms.
What’s the benefit of using a platform like Second Life for education and skills development for individuals with brain injury?
Safe Spaces For Learning & Practicing Skills
We can create situations that engage participants in scenarios within a safe environment, at their pace, with coaching and peer support. They can develop key communication skills by interacting in a situation-specific context. They can relearn transactional skills by purchasing objects or negotiating with vendors. They engage in various situational role-play activities that give participants the opportunity to practice decision-making and prioritization skills. And they engage in scenarios that help them navigate behaviors they are want to change.
Engaging in these activities reduces the anxiety of going into similar real-world situations with little or no experience.
Additionally, the scenarios can be easily and quickly modified to present new challenges or address key concerns of participants and their coaches.
Reducing Feelings Of Isolation & Depression
Many people with physical and cognitive challenges live in social isolation. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated an already difficult situation. Second Life offers people a chance to meet others and share in social activities they otherwise might not have. Others may have a physical impairment, and Second Life gives them the virtual experience of full mobility and freedom.
Some of our participants have shared stories of going to live concerts, theater events, shopping trips, ice skating, bike riding, and a variety of other activities that they cannot do in the real world either due to COVID restrictions or the challenges of their brain injury. “The friends I have in Second Life are real friends. It’s not a game, but a kind of social media. Better than Facebook,” Tess
Etopia hosts dances, tai chi classes, a book club, discussions on healthy living, organics, and more that BEST program participants can attend and enjoy. These activities also give our program participants a chance to engage with people outside of our BEST group.
Availability Of Resources
There are resources available to our participants in Second Life that BEST participants are encouraged to explore. For example, the MAYO Clinic in Second Life hosts virtual events on diseases for residents and even includes a bookstore. Virtual Ability hosts two annual conferences; International Disabilities Rights Affirmation Conference (IDRAC) and the Mental Health Symposium. There are PTSD programs, resources on diabetes, a region dedicated to Parkinsons, and much more.
From classes to conferences, night clubs to shopping malls, Second Life offers an array of experiences that help participants re-engage after a brain injury, learn new skills, form new friendships, and rebuild their lives.
Visit our BEST in Second Life section to learn how you can join us. Here’s a short video about Etopia.
Christmas Leftovers! Now What?
The holidays may have been a very different experience than what we’ve enjoyed for most of our lives, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have goodies we want to save for another meal or two. I know I do.
Whether you cooked a turkey with all the trimmings for the family or you live alone and ordered too much delivery, the leftovers need a home. And we have the perfect solution! Not long ago Robin shared some storage tips in our Soup Group series. We think those tips will come in handy right about now.
In another episode Robin shared this terrific storage tip:
While you’re here, please support the BEST community with a small donation. To us meaningful work, relationships, and independent living to the extent that enriches someone’s life is all part of how we define success. Through our work we’re able to share our lives and experiences with you as a way to make the world – personally and professionally – more equitable for those with cognitive disabilities. Your support, no matter how small, makes a huge difference in the lives of those with brain injury and their families. Keep BEST alive and growing. Please contribute now. |
How To Be Your Own BEST Superhero (Coming December 1, 2020)
The Brain Energy Support Team (BEST) has joined Giving Tuesday (#GivingTuesday), a global day of giving that harnesses the collective power of individuals, communities and organizations to encourage philanthropy and to celebrate generosity worldwide.
The BEST Giving Tuesday mission is to engage, energize and empower the brain injury community, those with other cognitive challenges, their caregivers, and their families, through support, education, and awareness.
Occurring this year on December 1, 2020, Giving Tuesday is held annually on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving (in the US) and the widely recognized shopping events Black Friday and Cyber Monday, to kick off the holiday giving season and inspire people to collaborate in improving their local communities and to give back in impactful ways to the charities and causes they support.
This year, BEST will be sharing empowerment is an extra special way using our special symbol of the superhero.
Superheroes are near and dear to our hearts, as we think our community members, their caregivers, and their families, are real-life superheroes in every sense of the word.
As the COVID-19 health crisis has upended all of our lives, especially in the disability community.
One thing we know for sure that did NOT get upended: Our super(hero) love and support for each other.
It’s more critical than ever that we take care of ourselves and each other as we manage through this challenging and unprecedented time in history.
For 2020, we are all going to strive to be our own BEST superhero, while at the same time, being a superhero to others!
It’s a win-win way to save the world!
More details to come in how you can join our cause, support the community, and be a superhero to yourself and others.
Stay tuned!
Ready to support us today? Make your superpowers known right now! Please visit our support page and learn how you can help by clicking here.
September 30, 2020: Support in 4 Steps
We are reaching out for your help.
We know that COVID-19 has touched all our lives in profound and unimaginable ways.
We know you’re worried, and we’re worried, too.
Our team knows from years of personal experience that navigating a brain injury or other cognitive challenges is hard on individuals, caregivers and families.
It’s without saying the pandemic adds more difficulty.
From having to cope with stay at home orders, to navigating online and new technology now more than ever, the pandemic has upended how we all live and work.
Those in our community have shared with us that while they are trying to stay positive, there’s still tension, anxiety, sadness, and loss. We want to continue to support our community and need your help.
For over a decade, the Brain Energy Support Team (BEST) has been an innovator in support, support groups, education and activities for our community, near and far.
As the pandemic hit, we were able to adapt online quickly with information, educational opportunities and more.
Most importantly, through out these difficult months, we have been providing valuable support for brain injury support group facilitators to continue their efforts to support the community and those who are hurting and need help.
We are deeply determined to reach out in love, care and support to make sure our community isn’t overlooked and forgotten.
Despite our hard work, efforts and intentions, it’s not enough financially.
The facts are clear.
We need your urgent support by September 30, 2020.
Following 4 easy and fast ways you can help us TODAY:
- Donate.
- Become a BEST Member.
- Shop for Cause: Amazon or Fred Meyer; The BEST Superhero Shoppe Online; or get some BEST merch at the BEST Empowerment Superstore for yourself or others.
- Ask others you know (individuals, teams, businesses, organizations) to strongly consider their support.
What’s in it for you?
Helping a large, and often overlooked, community network with the lifelines and resources that they need, in a time of great need.
And supporting a creative organization to expand their offerings and capacity to welcome and embrace more community members, and to continue to offer free and reduced-cost activities and education.
Click here to help.
There’s more: you don’t have to take our word for it. Take theirs (see graphic below).
Thank you, for your time, attention, and sense of urgency. You will make a difference as you are the difference.
September 30, 2020: We Are Reaching Out For Your Help
We are reaching out for your help.
We know that COVID-19 has touched all our lives in profound and unimaginable ways.
We know you’re worried, and we’re worried, too.
Our team knows from years of personal experience that navigating a brain injury or other cognitive challenges is hard on individuals, caregivers and families.
It’s without saying the pandemic adds more difficulty.
From having to cope with stay at home orders, to navigating online and new technology now more than ever, the pandemic has upended how we all live and work.
Those in our community have shared with us that while they are trying to stay positive, there’s still tension, anxiety, sadness, and loss. We want to continue to support our community and need your help.
For over a decade, the Brain Energy Support Team (BEST) has been an innovator in support, support groups, education and activities for our community, near and far.
As the pandemic hit, we were able to adapt online quickly with information, educational opportunities and more.
Most importantly, through out these difficult months, we have been providing valuable support for brain injury support group facilitators to continue their efforts to support the community and those who are hurting and need help.
We are deeply determined to reach out in love, care and support to make sure our community isn’t overlooked and forgotten.
Despite our hard work, efforts and intentions, it’s not enough financially.
The facts are clear.
We need your urgent support by September 30, 2020.
Following are ways you can help us TODAY:
- Donate.
- Become a BEST Member.
- If you are unable to donate or become a member, ask others you know (individuals, teams, businesses, organizations) to strongly consider their support.
What’s in it for you?
Helping a large, and often overlooked, community network with the lifelines and resources that they need, in a time of great need.
And supporting a creative organization to expand their offerings and capacity to welcome and embrace more community members, and to continue to offer free and reduced-cost activities and education.
Click here to help.
There’s more: you don’t have to take our word for it. Take theirs (see graphic below).
Thank you, for your time, attention, and sense of urgency. You will make a difference as you are the difference.