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The Savvy Caregiver program was originally developed by a team of researchers at the University of Minnesota’s Department of Family Practice and Community Health in Minneapolis, MN. The program is designed to train family and professional caregivers in the basic knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to mediate the challenges of caring for a family member with Alzheimer’s disease and to be an effective caregiver (Ostwald et al., 1999; Hepburn et al., 2001, 2003). It was further shown in research to reduce caregiver distress (Hepburn et al., 2007). It is an evidence-based dementia care training program, and since 2002, it has been designated as one of the approved dementia training programs of the Alzheimer’s Disease Demonstration Grants to States (ADDGS) program, which is funded through the U.S. Administration on Aging.

The Savvy Caregiver is offered in a classroom format in over ten states around the country, but was converted to a DVD format in 2007 as a way of making the information accessible to people across the entire country.

The Savvy Caregiver DVD was filmed in Denver, Colorado in 2006. The DVD was completed in 2007 and was released for sale to the public in January of 2008.