The Lanka Alzheimers Foundation ( LAF) embarked on its history making Virtual Walk starting from September 1 - 21 to encourage healthy lifestyles and fitness.
A newsletter issued by the organisers, explaining the novel concept of a Virtual Walk amid the Covid-19 pandemic states, “ In a virtual walk, participants are given a target number of steps to complete within a specific time period. In a virtual walk, a participant is not required to physically walk the given route. Steps walked anywhere in any part of the world with the mobile device or fitness wearable connected to the ayubo.life app will capture the data and map the progress in the virtual route in real time. You can walk/jog in your garden or at any walking path of your choice or even jog indoors on a treadmill and the steps walked will be converted to virtual steps on the ayubo.life app and the participants can see their progress on the defined virtual route.”
As September is the World Alzheimer’s Month and September 21 is World Alzheimer’s Day, the organisers said that in previous years, their key activities for the month have been the Annual Memory Walk, which has been held for 17 years and the Alzheimer’s Run which we have had for five years with an ever increasing community participation.
LAF also conducts a range of other activities during this month to increase awareness about the disease, to combat stigma and to raise funds for the cause. Due to the pandemic and the consequent necessity for public safety we cannot have a series of activities this year.
Therefore, LAF decided to conduct a single activity with maximum impact. Memorable Steps, is a virtual Walk LAF plans to carry out in partnership with ayubo.life this September. ayubo.life is the flagship brand of Digital Healthcare Solutions (Pvt.) Ltd whose vision is to create healthier and happier nations by inculcating fitness habits.,and aims at reducing Alzheimer risk among the public.
Commenting on the route selected, the organisers said that the Virtual Route selected to elicit greater interest, is from Anuradapura to Sigiriya, a distance of 91,000 steps. They said that LAF participants had 21 days to complete the Walk during the period September 1 to 21. “A longer time period is given to enable participants to join later than the start date or walk slower if necessary to reach the goal.”, they said.They said that Dementia quizzes and information will be available along the way for participants and also for all users of the app at the touch of a button. ayubo. life already has a membership of 91,000 and this information will be available to all of them, irrespective of their participation in the Walk.
Rewards
Even if you opt for an early stop and if you don’t complete the Walk the organisers have thoughtfully considered giving rewards to all participants. What we wish is to inculcate a healthy lifestyle that encourages people to participate at their own fitness level, they said.
For more information on how to register for the Memorable Steps Register for the step challenge from this webpage: https://memorablesteps.ayubo.life/ Or . Download the ayubo.life app from the link in the SMS sent to your mobile or Open the ayubo.life app and enter your mobile number for verification. The LAF Website to contact is www.alzlanka.org
Also commenting on other activities of the LAF, a separate news release from the organisation says: If community spread of Covid- 19 continues to be contained, they hope to open their Activity Centre with all safety measures recommended by the health authorities. They also said that a patient with cognitive impairment who wanders outside alone can easily become confused, injured and get lost. An identification bracelet can help a loved one with dementia get home safe. Hypoallergenic and Tamperproof ID bracelets are now available at The Lanka Alzheimer’s Foundation.