More than 600 communities nationwide are walking to raise awareness and money for Alzheimer’s care, support and research. Park City has a walk taking place on Saturday. Carolyn Murray has this:
They have a goal to raise $96,000 dollars. Organizer, Ray Freer says all the funds they raise stay in Utah and he’s confident they’ll meet their goal.
“It’s used for lobbying. We provide support groups for caregivers. We have a crisis line and that actually stays here in Utah. There is a national campaign and in our walk, we keep the money here.”
According to Organizer, Joe Cronley, Alzheimer’s is now the 6th leading cause of death in the US.
“And it accounts for more deaths than breast cancer and prostate cancer combined. Which was alarming to me. Those used to be death sentences but now with the research that’s gone into those cancers, people can live a long time after overcoming those and we hope to do the same thing with Alzheimer’s this year and over the coming years.”
Freer says 10 percent of 65-year-olds have alzheimers and by the age of 85, thirty-five percent have it.
“The other thing that I find compelling, there are three caregivers on average for each Alzheimer’s victim. Right now when you combine both populations, it’s about 20 million people here in the United Sates.”
According to Cronley there are behaviors that help to stave off the disease.
“One of the things…sleep is really important to give your brain that rest it needs. The other thing is we hear, being active, being active throughout your life, getting ourt and hiking, exercising. But al;so having some really tight networks of social…you know having social networks and being tight knit there, where you have some connection with other humans. That social aspect is really important.”
Cronley is involved in the fundraiser because his employer, Edward Jones Financial Advisors, is the National Presenting Sponsor and they’ve given $2.5 million dollars to the national campaign the past two years. This year their goal is to raise $4 million dollars with the National Walk Campaign. Freer has a more personal story explaining his involvement.
“My wife, Mary of 52 years is now in a long term care facility, never to emerge. And, she is in the advance stage of dementia. It took eight years to occur. You start with mild cognitive impairment then you gradually increase to mild dementia and then from there to moderate and now advanced. And now she is…uh…she’s not a vegetable. I don’t want to say that, but she has no real emotional content to her life right now.”
“Does she still know you?”
“Just barely …and she’s particularly happy about our dog.”
Freer says Caregivers can struggle with anxiety and stress and can benefit from participating in support groups. There are regular caregiver support meetings in Park City every third Wednesday between 2 and 3 pm at the Shepard of The Mountains Church.
The Alzheimer’s Ceremony starts at 10 on Saturday at the Basin Recreation Center at Newpark,1258 Center Dr. The walk starts at 10:30 and will be finished by 11. There’s no registration fee required and dogs on leash are welcome.
Go to alz.org Wasatch Back, show up Saturday morning or call Development Director of the Utah Alzheimer’s Association, Laura Wall at 801-641-7148 to register for the walk.
