Community leaders from across the northern interior met in Prince George this week to find ways to improve healthy living opportunities.
The event, organized by Northern Health, featured elected officials, municipal staff, healthcare workers and other interested parties from communities ranging from Prince George to Valemount to Quesnel.
"We all came in, shared our knowledge and learned tons," Valemount town councillor Hollie Blanchette said. "You learn a lot when everyone is pitching in their two cents worth."
Each group decided amongst themselves which topics to focus on. For instance the Prince George group discussed ways to increase physical activity in the community in the lead up to the 2015 Canada Winter Games, while topics at other tables included helping seniors get more active in the winter and improving men's health.
Representatives also had the chance to float between tables and gather ideas from other delegates.
Northern Health healthy community development and local governments lead Sabrina Dosanjh said the workshop format was meant to find ways for different community leaders to work together towards healthy community goals.
"They talked about how we can work together from our silos into a more systematic approach to building healthy communities," she said.
Some of the discussions centered on finding ways to marshall different resources together down the road, while others worked on practical ideas that can be implemented right away. At the McBride and Valemount table, for instance, the group is working on a plan to bus seniors to events in each other's community this winter to expand the number of activities available to the group.
Dosanjh said the conversations this week are part of ongoing efforts in each community aimed at encouraging people to live a healthy lifestyle.
"There was a lot of discussion around continuing the discussion further," she said, noting that representatives from educational and business backgrounds would be able to bring more to the discussion.
On Thursday, Blanchette continued the healthy living theme as she made a presentation to the Innovation and Development Commons Research Days being held this week at the Civic Centre. She spoke about a program in Valemount that encourages people to be more active during all waking hours.
"The key message is to just be active," she said. "Don't worry about diet, don't worry about food, worry about being active all day."
