Sciences Participating with Arts & Culture in Education

The Walk for Memories

The Walk for Memories, an annual fundraising event organized by the Federation of Quebec Alzheimer Societies, will take place this summer, on May 26. By joining this collective event, I wish to help collect funds to contribute to an enhanced quality of life of Alzheimer’s patients and to encourage further research in the field.

If there is something I want to walk away with it is that we can make a difference in the life of the elderly suffering from Alzheimer’s. We can indeed improve the public understanding of dementia as well as support Alzheimer’s patients financially by collecting funds for research and health care services. The Walk for Memories, as a public campaign that encourages a societal acceptance of elderly patients affected by dementia, allows us to meet this mission by triggering change in local communities across the province and inspiring others to spread this movement beyond.

Many people in our youth-focused society worry about growing old. We are, in fact, all destined to become physically and sometimes mentally more vulnerable. As of 2010, there were an estimated 36 million people suffering from dementia worldwide, according to a report by Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI). The same institution claims that “this number will nearly double every 20 years, to an estimated 65.7 million in 2030, and 115.4 million in 2050.”

In a 2012 survey also conducted by ADI, a patient with dementia from the United States shares his worries about being put aside by his family and friends: “It’s very interesting to see how people close to me act. It’s almost as if they are afraid of bringing up the subject. Being a cancer survivor, I know that I was constantly asked how I was doing while I was going through treatment. With Alzheimer’s, no one asks.”

Clearly, there is a growing need for emotional and financial support for Alzheimer’s victims. Yet I realized that the care we offer elderly patients can benefit not only them but all of us. Combining our efforts to give elderly people excellent treatment will allow us to show them that they still have value and a place in society and, at the same time, it will lessen our fear or aging.

To support my initiative to walk for the precious memories of Alzheimer’s patients, please donate to: [url=http://qcwalkformemories.ca/Support_a_walker-en-16?participant_id=237]http://qcwalkformemories.ca/Support_a_walker-en-16?participant_id=237[/url]

To join the event or simply read more about it, here’s the official link: [url=http://qcwalkformemories.ca/]http://qcwalkformemories.ca/[/url]

Thank you for your support!