Setting the Context

Landscapes of First Nations, Inuit and Metis Health - An Updated Environmental Scan
An NCCAH-commissioned environmental scan of the current work performed in the field of Aboriginal Peoples' health in Canada (122 pages). Updated for 2011.

Looking for Aboriginal Health in Legislation and Policies, 1970-2008: The Policy Synthesis Project
Canada's health system is varied, complex and inconsistent when it comes to serving Aboriginal peoples. This new NCCAH report for 2011 tracks Aboriginal-specific policies and legislation to 2008, providing evidence that Aboriginal health policy in Canada largely remains a patchwork, and highlighting significant gaps and jurisdictional issues. The policy synthesis also documents health-related provisions in self-government agreements and draws attention to emerging opportunities for Aboriginal engagement in shaping health policy, programs and services.

State of the Knowledge: Inuit Public Health, 2011
Inuit health in Canada has its own unique challenges. This report synthesizes current knowledge to 2011 and identifies trends and gaps for the four northern Inuit regions (Inuvialuit, Nunavut, Nunavik and Nunatsiavut) and southern Canadian cities. The report draws attention to issues such as diabetes, sexually transmitted infection rates, youth suicide, climate change and data gaps, while noting that “no single public health issue facing Inuit can be addressed in isolation.” Report author Dr. Emilie Cameron calls for holistic, culturally-sensitive initiatives to address complex and inter-generational public health problems, including Inuit-specific health indicators and the need to address underlying social, cultural and economic factors affecting the health of Inuit peoples.



Exploring Evidence in Aboriginal Health
A short narrative report accompanying our DVD: 'Dialogue Circle: Ways of Knowing.' Looking through the lens of Indigenous Knowledge, participants in an NCCAH-hosted 'dialogue circle' in Vancouver B.C. explore what constitutes 'evidence' in Aboriginal health.

Child and Youth

Aboriginal children's health: Leaving no child behind - Canadian Supplement to the State of the World's Children 2009
Our joint UNICEF Canada/NCCAH report finds that the health of First Nations, Inuit and Métis children in Canada falls well below national averages. This widely disseminated document concluded that the health gap is one of the most significant children's rights issues facing the country.

Messages from the Heart
A short narrative report of the NCCAH-hosted 'Showcase on Aboriginal Childrearing' event in Ottawa, 2009, which highlighted programs and practices that are helping to support Aboriginal parents and caregivers.

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Among Aboriginal People: A Review of Prevalence.  Two Page Summary
Our first report, released in 2009, concludes that the true extent of FAS and FASD in Aboriginal populations is not known, despite a widespread perception that the disorders are more prevalent in Canadian Aboriginal children than among non-Aboriginal children.

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome & Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Among Aboriginal Canadians: Knowledge Gaps
Our newly released second report on this issue highlights broad research knowledge gaps in three key areas, particularly in relation to Aboriginal-specific studies, and helps initiate dialgoue about the priority of future research directions.

Supporting Aboriginal Parents: Teachings for the Future
A strengths-based sumary and review of reports and literature on Aboriginal parenting practices. Released in 2009 at the NCCAH-hosted national 'Showcase on Aboriginal Childrearing - Messages from the Heart: Caring for our children and Families,' the report examines both traditional and contemporary forces on Aboriginal parenting to shed light on how to improve programs and services.

Systematic Review of Community-Based Interventions for Children and Adolescents with ADHD and Their Families
ADHD is a condition that is often co-morbid in Aboriginal children diagnosed with FASD. There is currently little information concerning effective FASD-specific interventions. This NCCAH-supported report, released in 2010, reviews literature related to interventions for children and youth living with ADHD. The report's findings may be adapted to support Aboriginal children and adolescents diagnosed with FASD.

A Framework for Indigenous School Health: Foundations in Cultural Principles
This internationally recognized collaborative report with the Canadian Council on Learning - Knowledge Centre on Aboriginal Learning, and the Canadian Association for School Health, provides a framework for resdesigning school-based health programs to better meet the needs of Indigenous children and communities. The framework is based on 'five strong threads' that shape Aboriginal world views, as identified through international collaborations among Indigenous practitioners. The framework will be presented at an international health promotion conference in Geneva, Switzerland in July 2010.

With Dad: Strengthening the Circle of Care
How can we welcome fathers back into the circle of care in the post-residential school era in Canada? A national gathering hosted by the NCCAH in February 2011 included elders like George Giant, a residential school survivor, and program leaders like Jake Gearheard of the Ilisaqsivik Society helping address social and cultural change for Inuit men in the Arctic. This narrative report accompanies a documentary film that shares the insights of Elders, fathers, matriarchs and participants on strengthening the role for First Nations, Inuit and Métis fathers in communities, programs, research and policies in Canada.

Social Determinants


Traditional Aboriginal Diets and Health
This review sheds light on chronic disease and a shift from traditional diets to western foods experienced among Aboriginal peoples in Canada. The review touches on health benefits associated with diets based on local plant and animal resources, and the challenges of promoting traditional dietary practices. It notes, for instance, that a third of James Bay Cree people embrace hunting and trapping as a way of life, that food sources are often determined by poverty and remote locations, and that broad policy initiatives can help promote country food and hunter support programs.


Understanding Chronic Disease and the Role for Traditional Approaches in Aboriginal Communities
Aboriginal Canadians disproportionately suffer from chronic diseases and their common risk factors. This review examines the impact of chronic disease, and provides an overview of traditional and holistic Aboriginal approaches to prevention that can be incorporated in meaningful health interventions.

Health Inequalities and the Social Determinants of Aboriginal Peoples' Health
Authors Charlotte Loppie Reading, PhD, and Fred Wien, PhD, use available data to describe health inequalities experienced by diverse Aboriginal peoples in Canada, linking social determinants to health inequalities. Many of these determinants, such as poverty, substandard housing, and barriers to education, are rooted in contexts specific to Indigenous peoples, including a history of colonization impacting culture, languages, land rights and self-determination. The authors present a conceptual framework for understanding social determinants across the lifespan, and note that complex interactions between social determinants and health are just starting to be mapped out and demonstrated empirically by researchers.

Red Moon Dialogues
A short narrative report of the inaugural NCCAH Forum with National Aboriginal Organizations on the Social Determinants of Aboriginal Peoples' Health, held in Ottawa in 2008.

From Visions to Actions: Second Forum on Social Determinants of Aboriginal Peoples' Health
A short narrative report of our second national forum, held in Vancouver BC in 2009, helping identify how sectors within and beyond health can support an integrated approach to supporting the optimal health and well-being of First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples in Canada.

 

PopHealth Notes, Issue 4: "Aboriginal Youth and Social Inequalities in Health"
This November 2008 edition of PopHealth Notes was a collaboration of the Institut National de santé publique du Québec and the NCCAH.

Ecohealth and Aboriginal Health: A Review of Common Ground
The health and well-being of Aboriginal communities is closely linked to a connection with the land. Margot Parkes, Canada Research Chair in Health, Ecosystems and Society at the University of Northern BC, identifies potential common ground between the emerging fields of ecohealth and holistic approaches to Aboriginal health. She highlights a new generation of research and practice bridging the “artificial divides” between environmental and social approaches to health, and suggests that building on the strengths of both approaches is “fertile ground that could help foster a future for Aboriginal communities where ecosystems, equity, health and culture can flourish.”

Aboriginal Environmental Health Issues: Researchers' and Decision-Makers' Perceptions of Knowledge Transfer and Exchange Processes
Environmental health policies are often the result of highly political processes, with varied impacts on communities, regions and interests. This newly released, NCCAH-supported report by a team of scholars sheds light on Canadian Aboriginal environmental health processes and makes recommendations to support improved sharing of information and knowledge. The report highlights the need to incorporate Traditional Knowledge in decision-making processes, and finds that relationships among researchers, communities and decision-makers must be based on trust, respect, empowerment and equity.