Manitoba doctors launch contest to encourage people to get healthier
Getting Healthy contest runs for the month of June
Doctors Manitoba has launched a new online resource and contest to encourage Manitobans to get healthier this June.
The website, GettingHealthy.ca, has information on everything from fitness and nutrition to how to catch up on routine medical screenings and immunizations.
It also has a sign-up sheet for a contest where people can commit to taking steps to be healthier for a chance to win one of 36 prizes.
Participants need to fill out a form with their contact info and say what ways they are committing to healthier living this month.
More than one in four people who responded to an online survey commissioned by Doctors Manitoba reported their health was poor or fair in May 2023, while four in five said they thought they could be doing more to live healthier.
Given those responses, Doctors Manitoba wanted to do something to encourage people to prioritize their health while having fun, said Dr. Michael Boroditsky, the organization's president.
"I think the messages are serious, the outcomes are serious, but … the goal I think is just to have fun," Boroditsky said.
"Hopefully this small little thing for the month will maybe help a few people come out of that a little bit better."
Preventing illness
Doctors spend most of their time diagnosing and treating health issues, but what they really want most is for their patients to be healthy and prevent illness, said Dr. Joss Reimer, chief medical officer for the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority and president-elect of the Canadian Medical Association.
"You know, as a public health doctor, we talk about prevention all the time, but it's all of the physicians that want to see that," she said.
"None of us want to have people coming in to see us. We would love to work ourselves out of a job."
Another impetus for the contest is to get Manitobans to catch up on routine medical screenings and immunizations that were disrupted by the pandemic, she said.
"We really encourage people to talk to their doctors to make sure they're caught up on their vaccines, that they've been screened for blood pressure, that they've been screened for their cholesterol, that they've had their cancer screenings," she said.
"All of these things are what we want people to think about now that we're starting to get back to more of our regular lives."
But doctors also recognize that healthy living isn't always easy, especially given the rising cost of living, Reimer said. That's why the website also has tips for ways to get healthy on a budget.
The contest runs until June 30, with winners announced in early July.
The largest prize is a two-night stay at the Lake House in Clear Lake, while there are a series of other, smaller, health-themed prizes, including a Garmin fitness tracking watch, a six-month gym pass to Sport Manitoba and a Fort Whyte kayak adventure.
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