FOR the last 4 years, the St. Lucia Arthritis and Lupus Association has really tried to keep up a mantle of promoting good health to St. Lucians, through the Stanford University Self- Management Programme, “Viv Byen”.
On Monday March 19th another 6 week workshop was concluded and another group of St. Lucians and SLALA members were fortunate to have done this programmme, which has been shown to effectively change the way people think about their chronic diseases and care for themselves.
Below is a testimonial from a member and participant who wanted to share what this programme meant to her:
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN
On this day 19th March 2018, I am completing the “Viv Byen” workshop, which I have been encouraged to participate in since I was diagnosed with LUPUS in November, 2016.
The Viv Byenprogramme has been very informative and helpful. It helps people, like myself, realize that we are not the only ones going through certain situations and there are other people who may be going through it as well or faced with worse symptoms.
It helps with providing support to each other and makes you feel a bit more comfortable about living with a condition, because one can understand to an extent what is really happening to the body when strange feelings come over it.
Communication is very important and it also provides opportunities to express feelings and emotions and to get help from participants or leaders as to how to deal with various situations.
Viv Byen should be introduced by most health-care professionals, if not all, hospitals, health centres and pharmacies. The leaders may not be able to advise on medication, but there are a few topics which were covered:
How to deal with depression
Working on weekly action plan
Healthy eating habits
Communication skills
Reasons for certain symptoms e.g. Shortness of breath
Dealing with difficult emotions
Those topics go a long way in helping people manage Chronic Health Conditions or just Health Conditions.
Keep Up The Good Work!!!! “Viv Byen”
Best Regards,
Germinia Joseph
Participant
With May — Lupus Awareness month — just around the corner, we encourage all persons with Lupus or related disorders to become members of SLALA, so they may have the opportunity to do this wonderful programme.
To become a member or get more information contact SLALA at 459-0092, 486-7000, email [email protected] and find and like us on Facebook!