Kathy Van Cleave, director of the Division of Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementia for the Mississippi Department of Mental Health, has been named Champion for the Jackson metro area Alzheimer's Association Memory Walk, scheduled for 9 a.m. on Oct. 10 in the Mississippi Braves Stadium of Trustmark Park in Pearl.  

 

As Champion, Van Cleave will kick off the Memory Walk and activities at Trustmark Park, and will recognize individuals and champion teams for their efforts. 

 

A Georgia native who has made Magee her home for the past four years with her husband, Brad, minister of students and recreation at the local First Baptist Church, and their children, Ashton, 5, and Kristin, 2, Van Cleave demonstrates a dedication and passion to her calling that stems from firsthand family experience with Alzheimer's. Her grandmother, who cared for an older sister with the disease, later developed Alzheimer's. 

 

"It's both my professional and personal desire to ensure that individuals with Alzheimer's disease receive the quality care they deserve," she said. "Providing quality educational opportunities, support services, and caregiver support are key in making this happen."

 

After earning a bachelor's degree from Shorter College in Rome, Ga., Van Cleave relocated to Hattiesburg, where she earned a Master of Social Work degree from the University of Southern Mississippi and worked as an intern at Pine Grove Treatment Center. After graduation, she joined the center full-time as a therapist and was named New Employee of the Year in 2002. The following year, she joined the Division of Alzheimer's as a trainer and also partnered with the Alzheimer's Association in developing a dementia education training module as part of a demonstration grant. She was named division director in January 2007.  

 

"A distressing fact is the observation that early onset of Alzheimer's is beginning to occur more and more often," said Van Cleave. "Family support for all patients is an important factor, and support for the family caregivers is also vital."

 

Every 71 seconds, someone is diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, reports the Alzheimer's Association. Approximately 5.3 million Americans have been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. By 2010, an estimated 52,000 Mississippians will have the disease. From 2000 through 2004, deaths from Alzheimer's disease increased by 33 percent. In the same time period, deaths from heart disease, stroke, breast and prostate cancer all decreased.

 

Van Cleave points out that the Mississippi Department of Mental Health is the largest state agency, and that Mississippi is ahead of many states in its efforts and setup for providing the caregiver training. 

 

"Are the needs fully met? Goodness no, but it's a start," she said. "Mississippi is fortunate to be one of the few states with a division in state government devoted specifically to Alzheimer's disease. Some states are at least 10 years behind Mississippi's progress in providing training, and some are studying Mississippi's programs. Although we're ahead in this area, there's so much that needs to be done."

 

Funds raised from the Memory Walk will help finance statewide support groups; the training of policemen, firefighters and emergency personnel for the Medic Alert Safe Return Program; distributing basic Alzheimer's information; initiating the Maintain Your Brain program for baby boomers; and the rollout of the Virtual Dementia Tour.

 

"By the time I finished the virtual tour of what it's like to be in the shoes of a person with dementia, I had a new perspective of the challenges of completing everyday tasks," said Patty Dunn, state operations director for the Alzheimer's Association Mississippi Chapter, which raised $120,000 across the state in 2008. Dunn's virtual tour experience involved wearing goggles with blurry vision, taping fingers together, having pebbles in her shoes, and wearing earphones emitting disconcerting background noise.

 

The Alzheimer's Association's signature event for awareness and fundraising, Memory Walk has raised more than $225 million nationwide since it was established in 1989. The nationwide association is the leading voluntary health organization in Alzheimer research and support.