Every Wednesday evening for the last eight months physicians in Mackenzie have hit the streets to encourage people to become more active.
As part of a broader Mackenzie Gets Healthy plan, four doctors and one nurse practitioner have taken turns hosting a Walk with your Doc event.
"It's a well-documented, well-studied fact that physical activity is one of the best ways to prevent disease," Mackenzie family physician Dr. James Card said. "From a health care perspective, I think we can do more good by mobilizing people than we can with a lot of the medications and current strategies."
Depending on the week, the weather and what else is going on in the community located 180 km north of Prince George, anywhere from a handful to a couple of dozen people join the doctors for a stroll around town. One week a group of high school students came and the doctors decided to turn their weekly walk into a run.
"It kind of depends on who shows up in terms of how far we go, but we usually walk for about an hour," Card said.
The walks give the physicians a chance to meet with patients in a different setting outside of the clinic, which Card said helps facilitate communication.
"It breaks down the doctor-patient hierarchical relationship a bit, which is nice," he said. "We get to know the patients who show up regularly quite well."
This week, the British Columbia Medial Association is highlighting Walk with your Doc events around the province. They're hosting a large event in Vancouver on Saturday morning and have 34 events listed for communities around the province, including Mackenzie. No Prince George physicians have registered events with the medical association.
In addition to the weekly walking events in Mackenzie, the healthy living plan also features free cooking classes on topics like eating healthy on a budget or meal ideas for people with diabetes. The committee is also putting together plans to participate in bike to work week and helping to develop a website to list community events people can participate in.
With the spring weather in recent weeks, the Wednesday evening walks have been more pleasant for the doctors and participants in Mackenzie. During the worst of winter, they moved them inside to an elementary school gymnasium, but it just wasn't the same.
Card said the physicians are committed to keeping the weekly walks going, as long as interest continues.
"The whole idea is to try to engage the community in more physical activity," he said.
