Sebra Barcuis joins the program to share what inspired her to start The Mindful Aging Show on WBCA 102.9 FM. She talks about her long career as a nurse, the importance of curiosity, and the valuable information listeners can expect to learn from her show.
WBCA Podcasts
WBCA Producer Spotlight: Sebra B
Sebra Barcuis joins the program to share what inspired her to start The Mindful Aging Show on WBCA 102.9 FM. She talks about her long career as a nurse, the importance of curiosity, and the valuable information listeners can expect to learn from her show.
- Duration:
- 29m
- Broadcast on:
- 07 Sep 2024
- Audio Format:
- mp3
This is WBCA 102.9 FM Boston's community radio station and we are on the WBCA producer spotlight, a show where we highlight some of our great community producers who produce their own radio shows here at the station. Today we have Sabra B of the Mindful Aging Show, which airs every Saturday at 8 p.m. Thank you for being here, Sabra. Oh, you're welcome. You're welcome. Thank you for having me. Oh, thank you. How does it feel to be on the other side of the glass? Actually, it feels good. You know, a lot of times people say on the other side it feels weird, but you know, now I can see how my guests will feel. It feels good. And for those who don't know, do you want to talk a little bit about what is the Mindful Aging Show and what should people expect to hear when they tune in? So the Mindful Aging Show, and I'll give you just a quick little history of it, I have been fortunate or blessed to have quite a few people in my life that are nanogenarians, which means that they're in their 90s. And so when talking to them on a regular basis, I really get to see a wonderful perspective of how they're living their lives. And so I was thinking, you know, there's a lot going on about aging, and there's a lot going on with people wanting to record their elders so that they can get history. And I thought, well, you know, let me just kind of think about what I would like to do in terms of like a radio show, because I took this course. It was just on my bucket list to see if I could learn how to produce and work that fancy board that you're working. So I thought, well, yeah, let me think about a show. And when you look at the whole aging process, because I'm a baby boomer, I just want it to be able to share what people's perspective on aging is, and because, you know, this is the whole, in these times, people do a lot of meditation, they do mindful focus. And when you say mindful, it kind of people sort of think about like meditation and breathing and yoga. But to me, being mindful is being in the moment, being focused, sort of looking at what's happening with you now. And so looking at the the nanogenarians, I thought, what if I actually had an opportunity to share what aging looks like from a person's perspective and encompass everything around that, you know, health, of course, wellness, things like getting your house in order for aging, looking at things like diet, looking at how we access the health care system and empowering people to understand some of the things that they need to do, what it looks like to live with certain diseases, what it looks like to be a caregiver or care partner with certain diseases, and then focusing on a lot of the things that are out there that we see in the news that we see in magazines about aging and all of the aspects of it, aging and grace, things like that. So mindful just means in the moment, what is your aging process? What does that look like to you? How were you empowered to focus on that? And how were you empowered to sort of be your own advocate and live your life fully? So that's kind of it in a nutshell, why I call it the mindful age and showing what that really means. Yeah, you did a great job of of describing it. I'm sure that a lot of people are going to want to tune in. And if anyone does, it's on Saturdays at 8 p.m. on WBCA 102.9 FM, Boston's Community Radio Station. You can also tune in at wbcaradio.org. And I know you've had a number of guests on your show as well. You had a Jerry Tricia and other people. How do you find those guests and what sorts of things have you learned from them? Once again, when I think about like what my format is going to be and around aging, I want to educate people. I want to empower people. And so I feel it's important to have it from a provider or a doctor's perspective. I feel it's important to have it from a nurse's perspective. I'm going to eventually have social workers on, have advocates on from the professional perspective, because a lot of people look to their healthcare providers for information, for support, for education. So I want to make sure that I'm bringing that part of it in. And the Jerry Tricia that I had on is someone that I know about very well. And sort of full disclosure, she was my mother's doctor for many, many years. And for those that don't know, my mother made her transition from this earth in July of 2021. She was 93. And she did have a lot of health problems, one of them being Alzheimer's dementia. She had some other serious health, that series too, but other serious health problems. And as we walked her journey through her health decline for all of those years, we made the decision together to move her from primary care to geriatrics, because she just needed to be part of the healthcare system where there was a provider that really had the time to focus on her aging body. So when I thought about this, I wanted to, like I said, make sure that I had a provider that was a physician that was on, that could look at that aspect, you know, aspect of aging. So that's why I chose a geriatrician. And a lot of people don't even know that there is a specialty practice for people when they get older, which is geriatrics. Some of the nurses that I've had on have been nurses that, in reading about them, looking at their perspective on life, looking at, you know, the education that they do around the aging process. So I was able to, you know, get them. And I'm just one of those people that feels like, well, I'll ask, they'll either say yes or no. So when I think about these things and I research, you know, who are some of the people that I could maybe have come on as my guests, I reach out to them. And so far, I've just been fortunate that they all said yes. I love that message. You can ask and either they'll say yes, or the worst thing is they'll say no, and you ask somebody else. Did you come from a health care background yourself? I have a health care background. And so my mother also, I'm a nurse, I'm a retired nurse. And I'm going to just say that name, that word retired in air quotes, because I feel like I am reinventing myself. I am redesigning myself and I'm re-inspired, you know, to focus on myself care, to focus on how importantly I move through the world and how I can actually share information that I have with people. So I, like I said, am retired. And to me, once again, that just means that I don't go to the same place every day for a certain amount of hours, most of the time 40, and those nurses that are listening say it's more than 40 hours with the schedule, but you know, not confined to that structure. I still, you know, from my nursing background, use a lot of my nursing experience, a lot of my nursing knowledge to incorporate into all of the things that I do. So I do a lot of volunteer work, I do a lot of advocacy work, I do a lot of community education, you know, around blood pressures, around Alzheimer's, around dementias, around self-care that's really important. And the wonderful thing about being at this point in my life is, is I say yes to everything that I want to. And I say no to the things that I don't. And I go to sleep at night feeling really good about that because I'm taking care of myself, making those kinds of decisions. There's not much more you can ask for than that. Yeah. And so you have this health care background, and I like that you put retired in air quotes because even what you're doing here with the Mindful Aging Show, I'd say is health education, and that's another important part of this all. Do you have any background in radio before coming here to WBCA? Well, not radio, but back in the 90s, I was a nurse in medical specialties at the hospital that I worked at, and one of those clinics was the arthritis clinic. So they actually approached me, the arthritis association approached me to ask me if I would do a community education show for being in, but it was, you know, down by the transportation building back then. Yeah. So I had a show called the arthritis answers show where once again, I would reach out to doctors in rheumatology, which is arthritis basically all of the diseases that have to do with arthritis and the joints and have them come on and talk about the different diseases, talk about treatments. I've had physical therapists on, I had nurse practitioners on, and it was really a community education show around arthritis. I had nutritionists on, and it really was kind of the same thing as I'm doing now, you know, education, empowerment, and advocacy, and it was so much fun. And I once again, I would call the doctor's offices or call the hospitals to find out, you know, who the rheumatologists were, and leave my name and information in what I was doing, and the ones that got back to me I had on the show. Did you have to build up the confidence to get to that point where you can ask people and have you always been confident or did you have to develop that over time? You know, I'm going to say that I've always been curious. So even growing up, and I'm originally from the Midwest, and my best friend still lives in the town that I was born in, and when we get together, she always says, you know, you were the psychologist and the detective at the same time. So I've always been curious and always ask questions, and in my mind, I wasn't consciously saying, well, they'll either say yes or they'll either say no, but I think that's kind of always how I felt. And so I think I developed a level of comfort, you know, in talking to people. Now, of course, you have to get a sense of how the person is, you know, and because when I'm with someone, I'm really listening to them to listen, not necessarily to sort of jump in and say what I have to say. So I can most of the time get a feel for whether or not a person would be open or receptive to the questions that I'm asking. So I can say that I probably have been this way, you know, all the time. Yeah, the yet another very inspirational point you've made that you don't necessarily have to come from a place of confidence, but a place of curiosity at the core of everything. When you back back in the day started your television show, the what was it called the arthritis? The arthritis answer show. The arthritis answer show. And now with the mindful aging show here on WBCA 102.9, did you have any, did you have any apprehensions about starting the show or, or concerns when you're going into it? Well, the apprehension I had was learning how to work the board. The technology piece of it fascinates me, but also just watching everything that you need to do as a producer to be sort of in charge and aware of everything that's sort of going on. And I wanted to make sure that I could actually do that. You know, it's, you know, it's like the ultimate multitasking. So if I can say I had any apprehension and I'll even use the word fear, it was, if I actually have a show, will I be able to push the buttons the right way and find the right level and be able to do it continuously and remember? So, but other than that, I'm just glad that the opportunity to learn about producing exists. And to be honest, that was on my bucket list for my retirement years to go back and learn a lot more about television and studio production, just because I wanted to know, not necessarily because I wanted to create a show, I just was really always interested in seeing what goes on sort of behind the cameras. Yeah, and I think you've been doing a great job because I, I know, I remember back in the day when you started your show, I guess it's been more than half a year now, was back in December, you had your, your first show and I remember you were very diligently practicing on the board and, you know, working all the faders and everything. And I, I feel like that's paid off because I, I think your shows have been sounding really great. Well, thank you. If anyone else out there is listening or watching and isn't interested in, in filling out another item on their own bucket list, we are WBCA 102.9 FM, a part of the Boston Neighborhood Network. You can visit wbcaradio.org to learn more about our radio production class, our audio mixing and editing class, and also opportunities to submit music to the station, to host your own show, to become a member, to perform your own music here. There's a whole lot of opportunities at the station right here in Boston, Massachusetts. I feel I've jumped ahead of myself a little bit. I'm curious, are you from Boston originally, Sabra, or did you move here at some point in your life or? I'm originally from Chicago. And I moved here in the late 70s. And what I'll say about that is, when you know that you have a purpose in life, and you allow yourself to be moved with that purpose, and you open it up and surrender to that, then you're taken to the place where you can best serve society, I feel. And so that's what I'll say, you know, the overarching sort of reason for me coming here was I was supposed to be here to really expand and do what I do, you know, to be of service. But I will tell you, when I moved here, I didn't move here as a nurse. I moved here, I worked for a cosmetic company, and the cosmetic company decided that they wanted to open up the line at one of the very famous stores here. And at the time, when we had the meeting, I was saying, oh, it really would be nice to do that. But I don't know anybody in Boston and, you know, can't move. But some things were happening in my life that required me or made me feel like I really need a change. I need a change of pace. And as it happened, I did meet someone that lived in Boston. And that friend told me, well, the building that that person was living in, I later found out it was someone from my hometown that I knew their family. Oh, so I ended up actually having a place to stay. And once I sort of solidified all of that, I said, okay, you know, I'll take the risk and I'll move to Boston. And all of that literally happened within three months. So I say that, you know, it was meant for me to absolutely be here and to do that. Now, what happened was when I came here, the company that I worked for, the support, I'll say, because like I said, it was a cosmetic company. The support here was very different because I came from a larger city. It was, we had a larger volume of clients. And so after being here for a little while, I saw that, you know, my life was kind of out of balance. And I really wasn't going to be making the money that I made before. And that just, it was a different vibe here, not a negative vibe, but just a different one. So I started thinking, well, I had a lifestyle. I have to do something to maintain that lifestyle, not that it was lavish. But you know, you make a lateral move, so things should be lateral. And I remember talking to my mother telling her where that I was, you know, a little bit frustrated about some things. And she was like, well, you know, you could always be a nurse. And I was like, no, that's not something that I want to do. You're wonderful at that. But no. So I had a few other jobs that I felt weren't fulfilling after I left that one. And once again, we had that conversation, she's like, well, you know, you could be a nurse. So your mother was also a nurse. Yes, my mother was also a nurse. And she's like, listen, you would be good at that. You'll always have a job. So I started to think about it. And I said, well, let's just see, I need to go to and I have to find a school in all of that. So my mother always said, you know, back in the day, once again, she said, if you decide to go to nursing school, you can do what you want. You can go to a college or you could go to a hospital where you will really learn hands-on so that you really will know how to take care of patients from a hands-on perspective. My mother was an LPN and she had more contact at the bedside. So she said, with this way, you will always know you'll be able to interact with the patients. And for her, because her bias was that she worked at the county hospital in my hometown, she said, try to find a city hospital because then you get all kind of patients, you see all kinds of diseases, make sure it's a teaching hospital. So she had like a list that I should look for. And so I literally looked in the phone book. And for those of us that remember the yellow pages, I looked in the yellow pages under hospital nursing schools, and Boston City Hospital popped up. So very long story short, I called, I found out what I needed. I needed like my birth certificate and my high school diploma and a lot of things that were in my hometown. And that was a Monday. And I was thinking, okay, this is like in July, I have time because schools usually start in September. So if they, if I get, you know, if they say that I need to get some information from home, I can have my family send it to me. Well, this was Monday. They said the deadline for applying was Friday. So I called my family in Chicago and my aunt, God rest her soul, got everything together that I needed. I made like the phone calls to my high school and told them she was coming and all of that. And then she sent everything to me. And I don't remember what the Express mail was called back then. But I got everything by Thursday. I was able to go and have the interview on Friday. And I was accepted into the program. So, you know, once again, when I say that I was supposed to do this, I absolutely was supposed to do this, you know, going to school at Boston City Hospital School of Nursing just gave me a well rounded education. I did start as an LPN. And our graduating class was actually the last full graduating class from the LPN program at Boston City. So most of my colleagues went into, you know, the med surge area. There were a couple that went into pediatrics. And then there were two of us that wanted to go into maternity. And when we did our rotation, I just was drawn to high risk maternity because they were women with health problems that at that time had to stay in the hospital, you know, throughout their pregnancy, women with hypertension, diabetes, asthma, you know, all kinds of health issues. And I thought, well, I'll still get my med surge experience because I'm, you know, with these, these mothers, with their health issues, and we still have to take care of them. So I decided to go to the high risk maternity area. And that just sort of started, you know, my journey of once again, being able to sit with people, talk to them, develop a relationship, you know, with my kind of nursing. So some things were happening in the hospital. And I had floated to a gynecology floor that was an oncology floor. And I was like, hmm, I kind of like this. So I talked to the nurse manager and I was able to transfer to the gynecology floor, which was a wonderful experience also. And then after a couple of years, our floor was the first floor, first floor, I believe, in the hospital, hospital's redesigned that this was going to close. And then those patients would sort of be mixed in with other patients in other areas. So we had the opportunity to go elsewhere in the hospital. And most of my colleagues went back up to maternity that worked in the GYN area. But I thought, hmm, I think I want to be able to learn more, get a little more experience. So there was one patient, one position available and outpatient. And I thought, well, let me do that. You know, it was a medical specialties, which was all of the specialties, hypertension, diabetes, the kidney clinic. Oh gosh, arthritis, the eye clinic, allergy, all of those clinics, I was able to learn a lot and float through as a licensed practical nurse. And so I decided that, you know, once again, just the thirst for knowledge, there was another aspect of my nursing that I really wanted to learn about. So I decided that I wanted to go and get my RN to be a registered nurse. And then the hospital talked about the future of nursing. And at some point, nurses were going to be required to have their bachelor's degrees if they wanted to continue to work at the hospitals. And even though they were saying that was way off, I'm like, well, I should try to do that just in case, you know, because I want to be ready. And I always want to be in a position where I can make some of the choices. So then I went back from my bachelor's degree. And it just kind of opened my eyes to, you know, another level of nursing. And I wanted to have more one-on-one focus with working with patients. So I then applied for a position in primary care as a continuity nurse and working with a lot of primary care physicians. And the wonderful thing about that was back in those days, we as the continuity nurses had patients that had appointments with us. So we had an opportunity to do a lot of education, you know, a lot of teaching around diseases, medication management, making sure that they were taking their medications and just developing that educators, almost like a coaching position with, with our patients. So then after a while, a friend of mine was actually in case management. And I'm like, hmm, because I've always wondered how do, how are people discharged from the hospital and what goes into that and what happens when they go home. So I talked to my friend and I said, I'm interested in case management because this is discharge planning and you have to put all of these things together. So at the time, one of the nurses was going to retire. I talked to the nurse manager and I was hired in case management. My nursing career really was a 360 situation then because in case management, we did discharge planning when I went in with all of the different disciplines. Eventually, they created a role in case management for maternal child. And since I had worked in maternal child, I apply for that position. And I because I had known the social worker that I worked with, who was really good, it was like the perfect fit. And it was a lot of the nurses that I had started my career with that were still there. So it was sort of like old home week, which was wonderful. And another full circle moment. Absolutely. So you know, that's really how my career was. And when I left, I was the case manager for the neonatal intensive care unit. So that's kind of my career in a nutshell there. Well, thank you for sharing your story and thank goodness that your application materials made it to you on Thursday and not next Monday. Because who knows where you'd be all these years later? Thank my auntie, thank my auntie, my auntie Alice. Yeah. For anyone just tuning in, we are speaking with Sabra B of the Mindful Aging Show, which airs every Saturday at 8 p.m. here on WBCA 102.9 FM. This is the WBCA producer spotlight where we highlight some of our great community producers here at WBCA Boston's community radio station. We only have a little bit more time, unfortunately. But one last thing I'd like to hear from you is what message do you have for people who might be interested about producing a show here, but perhaps regardless of their age or where they are in life, they might feel that they've waited too long and they don't have what it takes to host a show. I think everybody has what it takes to hold a show, host a show. And what I would say is, you know, the wonderful thing about being here is this is for the community. And this is community education. And you have an opportunity to really have your voice be heard. A lot of times you want to have conversations with people about things. And sometimes there's nobody around or sometimes people are busy. This is your opportunity to number one, learn the skill of, you know, operating the board. I know it has another professional name, but I can't think of it right now. It's a board. It's a soundboard. Right. And to be able to to either reach out and have guests or to just give your point of view about something that's really important to you. So I encourage anybody to reach out and and take the course. Or, you know, if you have a talent, I see a lot of musicians on here, which is fantastic. I see all of the programs that are on. And there's just so much education. And there is there is your voices. I'm going to lean forward because your voice is important. And the things that you feel are important and to share that with the community is a wonderful thing. And to have an avenue to share that with the community is a wonderful thing. Well, thank you so much. That was some great advice. I think people should probably take it. And they can visit wbca radio.org for all that information about how you can take our classes, become a member, host a show, submit your music to air on our station, and maybe even come in to perform your music live. This has been the wbca producer spotlight with Sabra B of The Mindful Aging Show, which airs on Saturdays at 8 p.m. I'm your host, Tommy Shenifield. I have just one quick one last question for you, Sabra. So you mentioned how hosting this radio show doing media production had been on your bucket list. I remember also hearing that you finished a marathon as part of your bucket list. So you're doing a good job with this bucket list. I'm curious, what's next to cross off on that list? I am in the process of becoming a dementia care consultant because I have dedicated really my, I'm going to say the rest of my life to educating us around people living with dementia, caregivers of people living with dementia care partners, and knowing that there are resources, knowing that there's support, and looking at how we interact with people that are living with this disease, whether it is in your home or professional caregivers. So I am in the process of looking to get my certification to become a dementia care consultant because this, this is, it's a devastating disease. And as an African American, we are two times more likely to have dementias and Alzheimer's. So I really want to empower people and educate people about the disease and to know that they are not alone living with the disease and, you know, being care partners with people with the disease. That's a very important goal and thank you for sharing that with us and thank you for sharing your time and your story here on WVCA. Thank you. My - My pleasure.