Orlando Health Hosts Alzheimer’s Walk For Residents & Family

Ocoee, FL (October 19, 2021) – In the lead up to Alzheimer’s Awareness Month, the Orlando Health Center for Rehabilitation held its second annual “Walk Before the Walk” event this morning on its campus in Ocoee.

Residents of the facility’s memory care unit joined loved ones, team members and community supporters as they walked and wheeled around the planned parade route just outside the facility’s front door. The nearly 70 participants wore t-shirts bearing the purple ribbon symbolizing Alzheimer’s awareness and carried purple pinwheels bearing the names of loved ones suffering from the disease.

“It's our second year staging this event. This is our way of kicking off a month of raising awareness for this horrible disease and generating excitement for the Alzheimer’s Association Walk to End Alzheimer’s happening this weekend at Lake Eola in downtown Orlando,” said Judy Skilton, program coordinator, Orlando Health Center for Rehabilitation. “Hosting a smaller walk on our campus provides our residents, many with mobility issues, and their loved ones the opportunity to participate together in promoting this cause without having to travel.”

In the United States alone, more than six million people are living with Alzheimer’s, a disease that kills more than breast cancer and prostate cancer combined.