Mackenzie residents walk with their docs every week

It is getting colder outside, but physicians from the northern town of Mackenzie, BC remain determined to hit the streets to promote a healthy and active lifestyle.  As part of a community health initiative, these physicians have introduced a weekly Walk with your Doc group for patients and non-patients alike.

The walk builds on the successful annual event coordinated by the BC Medical Association each May.  Dr. James Card felt that expanding the walk into a weekly event would be a great way to encourage and support community members to become healthier.

“We began the walks in September and have already been getting a regular turnout of 10 – 15 per week,” said Dr.  Card. “This is a great opportunity for physicians to have more casual conversations with their patients, while doing something for the community and demonstrating the importance of being physically active.”
Residents are invited to meet up at the Mackenzie Health Clinic every Wednesday evening at 6:30PM and split into running and walking groups.

The weekly Walk with your Doc group is part of the Mackenzie Gets Healthy initiative, a partnership between Northern Health Authority and the District of Mackenzie.  The initiative came into being after a Statistics Canada survey conducted last year found that about 58 per cent of people living in North East BC are overweight, the highest rate in the province.   

In August a survey was sent out to Mackenzie residents asking for their suggestions on ways to improve the health and well-being of northerners. 

“The time and effort that Mackenzie doctors are contributing to improve the health of their community is truly inspiring,” said Dr Shelley Ross, president of the BC Medical Association.  “It would be great to see this weekly program expand across the province in the same way that the annual Walk with your Doc program has.”

Beginning in 2009 the annual Walk with your Doc event, supported by the BCMA’s Council on Health Promotion, has gained in popularity each year.  Physicians from across BC invite their patients to take a one kilometer walk with them every year on May 10, International Move for Health Day.  Last year over 80 doctors and 2,600 patients around the province took part in the walk.