Alzheimer's disease affects more than half a million Virginia residents on a day-to-day basis. More than 140,000 people in the state live with the disease themselves, but another 458,000 help with their care and provide basic support for their functioning and safety.
The Alzheimer's walk takes place in many cities across the country. I'll share more about the roles you can play in the walk or as a volunteer for the Alzheimer's Association of Central and Western Virginia (our local chapter) in this post. Here are the dates for this year's Alzheimer's Walk in Charlottesville (which you can register for here), plus dates for other walks nearby:
Charlottesville- November 6, 2021
Fishersville- October 9, 2021
Harrisonburg- October 23, 2021
Farmville- October 31, 2021
Fredericksburg- October 9, 2021
The Charlottesville Walk has raised less than 10% of its $240,000 fundraising goal at this point, so there is plenty of room for both walker participation and additional volunteer support.
Do you have a family member with Alzheimer's or perhaps know someone who acts as a caregiver for their own relative?
If so, you may be familiar with the complex layers of suffering and loss that often go along with this degenerative illness. I'd like to share a little bit of my own loved ones' experience and tell you about how you can support families like mine-and research that's vital to accelerate the fight against Alzheimer's-by volunteering for the annual Walk to End Alzheimer's.
Dealing with a Loved One's Memory Care
Over time, my own family has learned that memory care requires both an understanding of the progression of dementia, and a large measure of emotional energy for anyone who loves the recipient of care.
I'm thirty years old, and I've watched my maternal and paternal grandmothers (Loretta and Marijane) suffer with Alzheimer's here in Virginia. It was frustrating, sad, and scary for them to become aware that their memory was disappearing. Even moreso, it was heart wrenching for their adult children and grandchildren to see their personalities change and eventually slip away. Despite these losses, we continue to feel privileged to have the resources and the ability to closely accompany our family members until the end of their journey.
It has been more than seven years since my parents invited my maternal grandparents to live with them. Every single day has been a labor of love. Even with a staff of caretakers (and more recently hospice workers to assist), memory care management takes up a massive amount of time, attention, and energy.
So where do we go from here? There's enormous potential to address the root causes of Alzheimer's, but it all comes down to funding for research. That's the backbone of stemming the tide of this disease, a large purpose of the annual Walk, and a motivating factor for many who volunteer.
Promising Research to Fight Alzheimer's
Many of the unanswered questions about Alzheimer's disease, its risk factors, causes, and possible prevention are currently being explored by scientists.
One piece of the puzzle is genetic, which is why a family member having the disease is a warning sign (although not a certain one). Scientists have pinpointed a number of regions in the human genome that may provide clues to risk factors for late-onset Alzheimer's-the more common variant-but there is still far to go! You can learn more about genetic factors through this fact sheet provided by the National Institute on Aging, which helps to fund thirty different Alzheimer's Disease Research Centers (ADRC's).
Since Alzheimer's disease primarily affects older adults, some of the neuroscience research funded by these ADRCs focuses on normal aging processes in the brain. For example, scientists are trying to understand how age-related changes in the body such as vascular damage, inflammation, and shrinkage (atrophy) of the brain over time contribute to the growth of tangles and plaques that result in loss of neurons as Alzheimer's progresses. Unlocking the relationship of these biological features to the disease could help researchers uncover more solutions and preventative measures.
From another angle, scientists are learning how to detect changes in brain and body fluids that occur long before a person develops symptoms of Alzheimer's. Research to explore these early stage aspects of the disease process could make it easier for doctors to diagnose before symptoms become obvious.
This kind of work is very exciting for the six million families in the United States who are affected by Alzheimer's disease. It's also important economically because Alzheimer's disease itself will cost the U.S. $355 billion this year alone.
Whether or not you have a loved one with Alzheimer's, you can become a supporter of this critical research by taking part in the Walk to End Alzheimer's. So let's get into that now.
Volunteer for the Walk to End Alzheimer's
The Walk to End Alzheimer's is the world's largest event to raise awareness and funds for Alzheimer's care, support and research. It takes place in 600 communities nationwide, and each local event is run by volunteers who form the walk's Planning Committee that executes the Walk from start to finish.
Here's a list of the activities that committee members lead and support (from the Alzheimer's Association's Volunteer page for the Walk). If one of these is up your alley, you might consider volunteering in that area.
- Sponsorship: Responsible for recruiting and managing relationships with new and past sponsors
- Team Recruitment: Responsible for recruiting new teams and helping them get set up for success
- Team Retention: Responsible for managing relationships with past Walk teams
- Marketing & Outreach: Responsible for creating awareness of the disease and the Alzheimer's Association through the promotion of Walk to End Alzheimer's
- AIM-Advocacy: Responsible for recruiting new Alzheimer's Impact Movement (AIM) members and advocates from all sectors of the community
- Mission: Responsible for organizing activities that focus on the Association's mission at committee meetings, wrap-around events and on Walk day
- Logistics: Responsible for overseeing day-of-event logistics and volunteers
Aspiring volunteers based in Charlottesville can also contact the lead contact, Deirdre Kelly, at dakelly@alz.org or 434.260.7216.
Encourage Local Agencies to Support the Alzheimer's Walk
If you know of a local assisted living facility or elder care organization, you can help by contacting them to explain how they can register a team to participate in the Walk. Many of these have their own division for Alzheimer's care and therefore a vested interest.
One such agency is Commonwise Home Care is a local in-home care company with locations in Charlottesville, Richmond, and Charleston. They provide in-home caregivers with specialized training in Alzheimer's care to alleviate the burden of care on family members.
Commonwise and their caregivers support the Walk to End Alzheimer's, but other senior care companies and the people they serve may not be aware or plugged in to the possibilities. You can help to create that network in the coming months as a volunteer.
Kathryn Elliott is a freelance writer born and raised in Northern Virginia.
