By: Mike Clark

The psychology department team “The Forget Me Nots” will participate in this Saturday’s local Walk to End Alzheimer’s at  Sawyer Point in downtown Cincinnati.

The Walk to End Alzheimer is a 5k run/walk sponsored by the Alzheimer’s Association. The goal of the event is to raise funds in the Cincinnati area for Alzheimer’s research. The Cincinnati chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association is sponsoring the walk.

Alzheimer’s is the most common form of dementia, a broad term describing the loss of cognitive abilities. Alzheimer’s accounts for 50 to 80 percent of all dementia cases. Memory loss is the most common characteristic of the disease. While age does not necessarily determine the likelihood of getting the disease, those 65 years and older are at greater risk.

Those participating in the walk typically have been affected by the disease in their lives in a personal way, either from a family member having the disease or for other reasons as well. The Psychology Club, and the Psychology Honors Society, Psi Chi, encourage students to walk in order to help end Alzheimer’s and to help spread awareness.

Dr. Renee Zucchero, one of the faculty involved in rallying students to partake in the walk with the “Forget Me Nots”, discussed how Alzheimer’s is becoming more common with the aging population. According to Zucchero, this is a problem not only for those afflicted by the disease itself, but also for the caretakers of those with the disease.

“We’re hoping to help spread awareness not only for those with Alzheimer’s disease, but also for the caretakers who deal with it in their daily lives,” Dr. Zucchero said. She said that the walk is the Xavier community’s way of being able to raise funds for the local chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association, which will directly give the proceeds of the walk to those afflicted by Alzheimer’s in the Cincinnati area and the surrounding region.

Those interested in participating in the Walk to End Alzheimer’s can contact the Psychology Club and Psi Chi. The contact information is available through OrgSync.