One thing you hear from both doctors and patients: they often feel rushed and wish they had more time to discuss disease prevention and healthy living. In a health care system with a doctor shortage, visits to the doctor are often focused on a list of acute or chronic problems, with little to no time to focus on being healthier. Based on physician feedback, Doctors Manitoba is building a new resource to help address this concern. 

The story starts back during the pandemic. Physicians were concerned about vaccine hesitancy and misinformation, so Doctors Manitoba launched Man​i​to​baVac​cine​.ca to offer answers from doctors to common vaccine questions, along with offering an eligibility checker and notification system. In the first year the site was up, it had over one million unique visitors, 200,000 vaccine eligibility checks, and 50,000 people sign up for vaccine eligibility notifications. Manitobans appreciated the facts from physicians, and doctors appreciated supporting Manitobans in making an informed choice about immunization. 

As the pandemic started to fade, physicians started focusing on how else Doctors Manitoba could support the public with information about health and well-being from a trusted and reliable profession. The top priorities all focused on disease prevention and healthy living. 

Research commissioned by Doctors Manitoba last year found most Manitobans (83%) believe they aren’t doing enough or could be doing more when it comes to physical activity, eating well, improving their sleep, reducing their stress, and/​or catching up on immunizations or medical screenings. Manitoba’s doctors created Get​tingHealthy​.ca to offer practical advice for all these topics, to support the four in five Manitobans who believe they could be doing more to prevent disease and live a healthy life. 

Over the last year, two successful campaigns challenged Manitobans to take one step towards getting healthy, with chances to win prizes. With an exuberantly positive tone, Manitobans are invited to check out Get​tingHealthy​.ca for tips from Manitoba’s expert doctors. 

The most recent campaign focused on getting healthy during the winter. Doctors Manitoba President Dr. Michael Boroditsky explained that ​“at Get​tingHealthy​.ca, you will find winter-friendly advice from Manitoba’s doctors to help you improve your health during this cold season. Everyone who pledges to take one step towards getting healthy this winter will have a chance to win our grand prize of six months of free groceries, a $5,000 value!” Over 18,000 Manitobans made the pledge to get healthy.

Work is now focusing on developing a more permanent resource, with current information about staying healthy and preventing disease. Manitobans will be able to enter their age and gender and get a personalized checklist with the medical screenings and immunizations they should be getting, issues to consider discussing with their doctor, and health concerns to watch out for. It will bring together information currently spread across multiple sites into a one-stop shop of facts and advice. There will also be regular health tips posted to the site and shared online, featuring practical advice from doctors.