{"id":7653,"date":"2026-02-21T21:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-21T21:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7653"},"modified":"2026-02-21T21:30:00","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T21:30:00","slug":"va-cares-for-caregivers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7653","title":{"rendered":"VA cares for caregivers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Originally published:<\/strong> 2026-02-21T21:30:00+00:00. Historical source article: benefits, rules, amounts and deadlines may have changed. Check the official source for current information.<\/p>\n

Every step of the way<\/h2>\n

A loving smile, financial management and assistance with daily living. These are just a few of the ways the caregivers who dutifully look after the Veterans in their lives provide aid.<\/p>\n

Francine Wolf, the daughter of 104-year-old \u00a0Army Veteran Maurice Zolkower, is one such caregiver who has benefited from the bevy of resources available at the Bay Pines VA Medical Center<\/a> (BPVAMC).<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Caregiver Support Program (CSP) has all the resources you could think of. It\u2019s amazing, I love it,\u201d Wolf shared. \u201cFor those not involved, I would say call and talk to a social worker and find out how you can attend.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The CSP is a national program that offers clinical services to caregivers of eligible Veterans who are enrolled in VA health care. The program\u2019s mission is to promote the health and wellbeing of family caregivers through education, resources, support and services.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe caregivers need a lot of support in order to take care of\u2014at minimum\u2014themselves and the Veteran,\u201d said\u00a0Ariana Bautista, program coordinator. \u201cThe types of support services we provide are really critical when the caregiver needs a break or they need some help in order to maintain their and their loved one\u2019s goals.\u201d<\/p>\n

Additional caregiver support \u00a0<\/h2>\n

In addition to hosting a monthly orientation about the program, BPVAMC\u2019s CSP provides a variety of caregiver-focused events. Since connecting with the program nearly a year ago, Wolf has been connected to nearly 30 diverse offerings, ranging from sound baths that focus on holistic self-care to workshops on how to care for a loved one living with PTSD, a topic that hits close to home for Wolf.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cMy father was involved in the liberation of the Dachau Concentration Camp, which really impacted him,\u201d Wolf shared. \u201cHe only started talking about these experiences when he turned about 90. Now that he\u2019s nearly 105, I think his PTSD is compounded.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bautista understands the toll a loved one\u2019s diminishing mental capacity can have on their caregiver. It is for this reason that she remains committed to ensuring that families like Wolf\u2019s feel uplifted.<\/p>\n

\u201cVeterans\u2019 families are hidden heroes. They\u2019re not the ones that are the focus of appointments, but they [need to be included too], and that\u2019s what our program does,\u201d Bautista shared. \u201cI feel honored and lucky to serve them. They\u2019re really a wonderful population to work for and to work with.\u201d<\/p>\n

Learn more about VA\u2019s Caregiver Support Program<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

This article was originally published on the VA Bay Pines Health Care site<\/a> and has been edited for style and clarity.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n

Source: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs<\/a>. Its Veterans is an independent publication and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. government.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Caregivers play a critical role in helping the Veterans in their lives stay healthy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":311,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7653","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-family-caregivers"],"yoast_head":"\nVA cares for caregivers - Its Veterans<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Caregivers play a critical role in helping the Veterans in their lives stay healthy.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7653\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"VA cares for caregivers - Its Veterans\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Caregivers play a critical role in helping the Veterans in their lives stay healthy.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7653\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Its Veterans\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-21T21:30:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=7653#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=7653\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/4bf835f8c5375ef33978f3169f311668\"},\"headline\":\"VA cares for caregivers\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-21T21:30:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=7653\"},\"wordCount\":485,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=7653#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/vet-456-294.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Family & Caregivers\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=7653\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=7653\",\"name\":\"VA cares for caregivers - 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