Women's Alzheimer's Movement at Cleveland Clinic

In 2003, Maria Shriver’s father, Sargent, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. This was a man who founded the Peace Corps and served as the U.S. ambassador to France, who was “brilliant,” as Shriver tells us, “with a memory that was second to none.” How was this possible? There were too many questions, and not enough answers. So the longtime news anchor did what any good journalist would do—she relentlessly looked for the answers.

When Shriver couldn’t find a children’s book to explain the disease to her kids, she wrote her own, What's Happening to Grandpa? She teamed up with HBO on a four-part documentary, The Alzheimer's Project, and published The Shriver Report: A Woman’s Nation Takes on Alzheimer’s, which uncovered—for the first time—that Alzheimer's disproportionately impacts women. That game-changing research eventually led to the founding of our #VBGIVESBACK partner, the Women’s Alzheimer’s Movement (WAM) at Cleveland Clinic, which is dedicated to women-based Alzheimer’s prevention, research, education and advocacy. “I wanted to answer the question of why,” explains Shriver of the mission. “Why do women’s brains make them more vulnerable?” (Read more about the nonprofit here.)

“For the past 20 years of my life, I’ve been the frontline of the disease,” says Shriver, whose most recent endeavor is Mosh, a line of brain-healthy protein bars she launched with her son Patrick. “I’m trying to address dementia from every angle that I can.”

Tell us about your personal connection to this cause…
My dad was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2003. He was an incredibly brilliant man, with a memory that was second to none. To watch someone lose that in real time was both heartbreaking and mind-blowing. Instead of feeling helpless or upset, I decided to better understand what Alzheimer's was and how we could prevent it.

What inspired you to name your organization a movement?
Because it’s a movement of people. We’re growing from the grassroots up. Also, movement is important when you’re talking about brain health and, if you want to get anything done in the world, if you want to galvanize people, you need a movement.