Action on Alzheimer’s and Dementia has been selected as the beneficiary charity of this year’s PartnerRe 5K Women’s Run and Walk.

The event, marking its 18th year on Sunday, October 4, at the Botanical Gardens, attracts more than 1,000 participants annually and has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for women’s causes over the past two decades.

AAD president Elizabeth Stewart, who noted the event will follow Dementia Awareness Week in Bermuda, said: “We are honoured to be this year’s partner charity with such a fantastic women’s event, and we welcome the fundraising and public awareness benefits it will bring us.

“There has never been a more important time to recognise the impact of dementia on our whole community; it is a public health issue, but it particularly affects women.”

Among its services, AAD acts as a community liaison to government departments and care homes; provides dementia-specific training for those in healthcare settings; offers occupational therapy services, including safety assessments and care planning for families; identifies and helps those who are living alone with no caregiver or advocates; provides a dementia-specific activities programme; and hosts monthly support group meetings for families.

Ms Stewart said: “Statistics show women are more at risk of developing dementia than men, and the symptoms they live with can be more severe.

“As well, women make up the majority of both professional and unpaid family caregivers.

“Many Bermuda women are supporting children and older parents simultaneously, and the burden can be detrimental to their own lives and careers.”

The only all-female event on Bermuda’s sporting calendar, the PartnerRe 5K is presented by Mid Atlantic Athletic Club and includes both a 5K race for women and a 2K race for girls under 15.

Bermuda has an estimated 1,000 people with dementia.

• For further information, go to www.racedayworld.com