A Week in the UK: Ben Nevis and ADI

What an exciting week! I summited the highest peak in Scotland, ask the UK’s Ben Nevis on Monday and spoke at the Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI) annual conference in London on Thursday with a corporate speaking event in between.  But more than that, I met some incredible people, shared some thoughts and learned even more about the world of climbing and Alzheimer’s.

Ben Nevis Climb

I have just posted a complete trip report along with an FAQ on my climb. It was everything I expected and more. It was just as beautiful as advertised, more difficult than anticipated and thankfully, the Scottish weather gave me the day they had in months to make the technical climb.

ADI Conference

Thanks to my friends at the Alzheimer’s Immunotherapy Program of Janssen AI and Pfizer, I was given the opportunity to present my 7 Summits Climb for Alzheimer’s as a case study in advocacy work. I was humbled by the generous reaction of my large audience at the conclusion.

I also was honored to listen to presentations from many country representatives of their work to educate their public and raise awareness on Alzheimer’s. This included India, Taiwan, New Zealand, Australia and Switzerland. There is some wonderful work going on in all these places. And their crisis is identical to what we see in the US – from stigmas, to education, finance, caregiver support and the need for research.

But the standout had to be the work by the Scottish team. A small group of individuals – all with various stages of dementia and Alzheimer’s gave a very moving representation on what I will call “life after “. They call themselves the Scottish Dementia Working Group and inspired everyone with their can-do attitude and energy to continue to live life and never give up.

One of the lesson I took away from the conference was the importance of public policy in addressing the massive problem of Alzheimer’s. Many speakers gave presentations on how to work with government representatives to educate them and on how to influence public policy and funding. There are many successful case studies around the world.

Finally , one promising comment was the prospective involvement of the World Health Organization in increasing the priority of work around Alzheimer’s.

At this juncture in my work, I am full of hope and optimism. I will continue to tell my story and use my climbing to further education, raise awareness and ask for donations on behalf of my non-profit partners.

I want to leave you with this touching video from Scotland’s Tommy Whitelaw. It is well worth the 3 minutes to watch:

Thanks for following and as always

Climb On!
Alan
Memories are Everything