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About two dozen people came out for the first “Walk With a Doc,” and took a mile stroll with longtime VA nurse practitioner Lydia Rivera (in red jacket). PHOTO/KEN JACKSON -
About two dozen people came out for the first “Walk With a Doc,” and took a mile stroll with longtime VA nurse practitioner Lydia Rivera (in red jacket). PHOTO/KEN JACKSON
Are you an active, healthy senior looking for peers to get out and join a walk, but don’t have those connections? Maybe you did, but in the wake of the pandemic, haven’t reconnected?
The new year 2024 has brought a way to get out, move around, meet new people, and pick the brain of some medical professionals while getting re-familiar with one of the best and easiest forms of exercise—walking.
“Walk With a Doc” debuted Monday in Celebration. On each second Monday of the month for the foreseeable future, Lydia Rivera, a recently-retired licensed nurse practitioner of 40 years, Celebration resident, and AARP Florida volunteer will lead a free monthly walk of up to a mile, while providing lifestyle, nutrition, sleep, and other advice on current health topics.
“I’m excited to be a part of the Celebration community taking this step toward better health,” Rivera said. “Studies have shown stress and depression double the effects of dementia, and exercise can reverse that. We don’t want people to be isolated, so this can be a time for people to connect with their community while doing it and having fun.”
In a world where healthcare is not necessarily accessible to all, the monthly event is an opportunity for residents to gather as a community and take steps to build an active, healthy lifestyle as they age, Rivera said. She noted the inspiration for it came on her own community walks.
“When I walk I see people, by themselves in their homes, and they feel so isolated. Something like this is a way to invite them out,” she said. “Aging in isolation is not healthy. My mother just passed away at 94, and at 93 she was still actively walking.”
AARP, formerly the American Association of Retired Persons — it isn’t just for retirement-age people — is committed to increasing its footprint in Osceola County, and is using the monthly event as outreach. Yazmin Alfonso, also a Celebration resident, the Associate State Director of Outreach at AARP Orlando, a coordinator behind Walk with a Doc — and Rivera’s daughter — is also working to collaborating healthy aging efforts in Osceola County.
About two dozen walkers, some with grandchildren in tow — and one with their dog — braved a bit of a chilly breeze and grey skies Monday morning at 8:30 a.m. to kick off the initiative, and take a stroll through a quiet Celebration neighborhood.
Walk With a Doc initiatives started in Columbus, Ohio in 2005, and recently came to Tampa and Miami. Alfonso said it’s all part of engagement in Osceola County and making the area’s seniors aware of healthy opportunities.
“With this event, we did outreach groups with seniors in Celebration member groups. When I realized we could start an initiative here, I knew there’d already be a relationship, now we just hope to get others to come out.”
The next Walk with a Doc in Celebration is scheduled for Feb. 12, and dates through 2024 are listed at the event’s website (https:// walkwithadoc.org/join-a-walk/locations/celebration-fl/). The event leaves from the event pavilion at 221 Celebration Boulevard — just show up, park, fill out the waiver, lace up and head out. A special March event on March 11 will be held at the Osceola Council on Aging.
