Sinai Health Foundation Demands Answers, Explores Flaws in Women’s Healthcare

With World Menopause Day taking place on October 18th, Sinai Health Foundation (SHF) utilised the occasion to launch a new campaign highlighting the lack of answers around women’s health – before, during and after menopause. Titled ‘It’s Time for Answers’, and created in partnership with independent agency Diamond, the work is designed to simultaneously raise awareness and funds to expand research efforts aimed at improving women’s health and understanding sex-based differences in disease, aging and long-term outcomes.

A followup to the organisation’s ‘Hot and Bothered’ platform, which rolled out in 2024 with a focus on breaking stigma and silence around menopause, this new integrated campaign is taking an even bolder stance to not only spark an important conversation, but demand answers across TV, OLV, OOH, digital and social. A move which plays off SHF’s equity in this space, according to Lana Chen, the Foundation’s vice president, integrated and brand marketing, this felt like the right approach given the group’s history of pioneering when women are continuously underrepresented, overlooked, and only receive 6% of federal funding.

“As we build on the success of last year's campaign and turn our focus to research that will help address the unanswered questions around women's health, we aim to raise as much or exceed our initial fundraising targets," she says. “The current gaps in research leave much of the women’s body under-researched; this is an outdated concept that a woman's health can be reduced to what a bikini covers, leaving the rest of the body overlooked in research and care.”

This phenomenon of ‘bikini medicine’ became a focal point of Diamond’s creative execution in its own right. Across Toronto, supporting the spot, ambient out-of-home ads have popped up, each depicting red bikinis to further SHF’s message. Additionally, until November 2nd, the windows of the former Hudson’s Bay Company at Queen Street and Bay Street are displaying mannequins wearing the garment alongside information, and during this past weekend’s Toronto Waterfront Marathon, bikini-clad runners took to the streets to boost the message to over 100,000 spectators.

“The notion of ‘bikini medicine’ was recognised as a tangible way to communicate and visualise that women’s health has historically been reduced to the areas covered by a bikini,” explains Rebecca Flaman, managing director at Diamond. “This approach neglects and overlooks the rest of the body, leaving too many unanswered questions about women’s unique health challenges. While the paid campaign highlights the many questions women have about their health, the installation and Marathon activation are opportunities for the brand to become part of culturally-relevant moments, events, and locations to raise awareness.”

Of course, despite the creative insight, ensuring the work landed tonally was no small task. In order to truly drive awareness of the complexities, challenges and unanswered questions in women’s health, whilst simultaneously reinforcing SHF’s commitment as one of the only academic centres in the world to make menopause and mature women’s health a strategic priority, the team at Diamond spent a lot of time making sure the final result felt truly empowering.

To this end, an emphasis was placed on motivating viewers with the creative, thereby provoking thought in the process, regardless of one’s experience with the subject. Intended to highlight the many queries women have about their health, each aspect comes with the purpose of inducing one simple ask: ‘Why aren’t there better answers to these questions?’.

“Women’s health is historically underfunded and under-researched, leading to confusion, frustration, and significant health implications, particularly as women age,” Rebecca concludes. “While ‘Hot and Bothered’ established ‘It’s time for answers on menopause’, we need more answers on women’s health overall – not just when symptoms of perimenopause or menopause start. Through the work, we aimed to create a visual metaphor for the systemic barriers restricting progress in women’s health.”