Latest program offers climbing adventures for individuals with younger-onset Alzheimer’s

Starting this July, people diagnosed with Alzheimer’s before age 65 may have a brand new opportunity to attach with others while exploring the good outdoors through a program called SOAR. The name is an acronym for Shared Outdoor Adventures for Resilience.

Offered by the UW Medicine Memory and Brain Wellness Center, SOAR will feature free monthly hikes within the Puget Sound area for small groups of individuals with younger-onset Alzheimer’s. Each participant brings along a member of the family or friend.

A lifelong recreation specialist from Seattle Parks and Recreation will lead the hikes. Optional transportation is provided. Hikes shall be as much as 3 or 4 miles. The style of terrain will vary amongst different hikes to offer a challenge but still be accessible to a wide selection of participants. Volunteer naturalists will join periodically to discuss plants and animals within the region.  SOAR will conclude with a nature retreat at Seattle’s Camp Long in June 2024. Everyone who participated all year long shall be invited.

While around 10% of individuals with Alzheimer’s are diagnosed before age 65, most support services are geared toward people at a distinct stage of life. Because of this, younger people navigating Alzheimer’s can feel isolated and alone. SOAR goals to vary that.

“On the Memory and Brain Wellness Center, we have consistently seen an enormous demand for programming tailored to the strengths of individuals with younger-onset Alzheimer’s. These requests include opportunities for physical activity that higher meet their needs,” said program co-lead Marigrace Becker, program manager for Community Education and Impact on the Brain and Wellness Center. “We’re excited to launch SOAR to support families on this region.”

To supply SOAR, the Brain and Wellness Center will work in close partnership with Seattle Parks and Recreation, known for being the primary parks and recreation department within the nation to launch a specialized dementia-friendly recreation program in 2014.  

“I consider deeply in the facility that nature and movement combined have and am thrilled to get to activate that power with the SOAR community,” said Brooke Sciullo,  a Seattle Parks and Recreation lifelong recreation specialist who will lead the hikes.

The SOAR program is made possible because of a 2023 Innovation Programs Grant from the I’m Still Here Foundation.

The muse’s founder, Dr. John Zeisel, said, “This can be a recent opportunity for the ISH Innovations Programs Grant. We’re thrilled and excited to see SOAR come into being

SOAR will launch with a kickoff event from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Wednesday, July 12, on the Washington Park Arboretum in Seattle. Activities include a program overview, snapshot of the monthly hikes all year long, group activities, lunch, and guided walks. Individuals with younger-onset Alzheimer’s and their families are encouraged to return learn more in regards to the program.