The Central Valley

Recovery, Awareness, Preventing Strokes

("CV-RAPS")

Join us on the 4th Tuesday, 12pm-2pm,

February-October, 2026

STROKE RECOVERY. Despite the recent advances in stroke treatment, more than half of stroke survivors (young and old) are left with residual impairments. Stroke remains the leading cause of adult long-term disability. Learn about innovative tools used to assist with rehabilitation. Psychological or psychiatric help can assist many people as they recuperate from stroke. Depression, anxiety, frustration, and anger are common disabilities in people with stroke. Therapy, along with medication, can help ease some of the mental and emotional problems that result from stroke.

STROKE AWARENESS. The CV-RAPS Program and other outreach programs provided by Healings in Motion, focuses on the risk-factors that may reduce stroke risk. Learn about brain plasticity, and the tools available to treat stroke.

STROKE PREVENTION. A better understanding of the causes of stroke has helped people make lifestyle changes that have cut the stroke death rate nearly in half in the last 2 decades. Learn more about high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, nutrition, trauma, head and neck injuries, genetics and more.

Stroke: Hope Through Research

https://www.ninds.nih.gov/sites/default/files/2025-05/stroke-hope-through-research.pdf

September’s Guest Speaker

Rachel Zerbo, MPH

Supervising Public Health Educator, San Joaquin County Public Health Services

September is National Suicide Awareness Month

This month's CV-RAPS Lunch & Learn features a timely presentation from San Joaquin County Public Health Services (PHS) on suicide prevention — a public health crisis that touches every community, including stroke survivors, caregivers, and those living with chronic illness.

Suicide claims more than 49,000 lives each year in the U.S.
More than 90% of people who die by suicide have a diagnosable mental health condition
Stroke survivors are 3–5x more likely to experience depression, raising suicide risk when untreated
Caregivers face comparable rates of depression and burnout

Join us for a compassionate discussion on warning signs, the role of behavioral health, and available resources — local and national.

CV-RAPS is FREE and open to everyone. If you or someone you love is struggling, this session was designed with you in mind. You are not alone.

Rachel Zerbo manages PHS's Violence and Injury Prevention Program as a Supervising Public Health Educator. She has facilitated the county’s Opioid Safety Coalition for the last 7 years and is an advocate for substance use prevention, harm reduction, and substance use disorder treatment, working in partnership with coalition members to reduce disparities in overdose deaths in the county. Rachel is also a leader in childhood injury prevention, with experience in Child Passenger Safety, infant safe sleep, and bike/pedestrian safety. Prior to joining PHS 10 years ago, Rachel worked for the California Department of Public Health, where she was the Older Adult Fall Prevention Health Educator. She received a Master of Public Health degree from Columbia University in 1997 and served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Burkina Faso, West Africa from 1997-2000.

Special thanks to

St. Joseph's Medical Center

1800 N. California Street

Stockton, CA 95204

Join Us Tuesday,

September 22, 2026

12:00pm to 2:00pm

LOCATION: Basement Classroom 1

Survivors. Caregivers. Social Workers. Stroke Coordinators. Public Health Educators. Veterans. You!