LEC 11: Indigenous Health Flashcards
Indigenous Health
Structural impacts of colonization and bad government policy have left a legacy of negative health/ social issues
What are significant policies and practices that have impacted Indigenous health?
- Residential schools (1883-1996)
- 150, 000 children - Sixties Scoop
- 40x increase in children care in 1 decade
How is the legacy of intergenerational trauma still impacting Ingenuous people?
- Individual: personal impacts on abuse and cultural disconnect
- Family: negative actions, abuse passed on in families
- Community: group cultural norms disrupted. altered, lost
What are the 8 main SDH found within Indigenous communities?
- Stress, bodies & illness
- Income and education
- Un/employment
- Early childhood development
- Food insecurity/ housing
- Social exclusion/ safety net
- Health services and disability
- Indigenous status, gender, and racism
SDH: Stress & Physical/ Mental Effects
- Stress: SDH challenges, systemic racism, PTSD, negative coping
- Physical Effects: Illness, delayed recovery from illness
- Mental Effects: Negative psychological impacts/ coping
SDH: Illness
Past health may be linked to present health
- Nutrition: Poor nutrition may be linked to illness such as diabetes
- Stress effects linked to illness. exacerbation of chronic disease such as:
- Cardiovascular
- Immune system
- Obesity etc.
SDH: Income
Linked to education and employment
1. Average income varies greatly between on-reserve ($18,586) and off-reserve ($29,780)
- Non-indigenous average income in Canada is $41,052
SDH: Education
On-reserve education funding capped (INAC)
- High school completion rate 72% vs 89% non-indigenous
- 31% of students attend off-reserve schools )esp. high school) away from home-support and home access issues
- University degree attainment 10.9% vs 26.5% non-indigenous
SDH: Employment
Employment and working conditions
- Employment rate 52.1% vs 61.2% non-indigenous
- Differences between on-reserve (35.4%) vs off-reserve (52.6%) linked to job opportunities and local economy
- Barriers include geography, education, structural racism
SDH: Unemployment & Job Security
- Unemployment rates 15% vs 7.5% non-indigenous
- Again differences between on-reserve (25.2%) and off (15.3%)
- Rates 25% grater if no high school diploma or training
SDH: Early Childhood Development
- Early childhood programming (below 5) can be of great benefit to all children
- Start of literacy. numeracy, socialization, skills development
- Early childhood experiences impact on later life outcomes - Early learning/ child care programs available
- 67% of FN communities have them- but only 22% of children have access due to wait lists
- Increasing on-reserve child welfare programming and interventions, but provincial social services still the norm
SDH: Food Insecurity
Risks linked to income and housing
- 14-33% of FN households have experienced food insecurity
- Food insecurity rates 4X non-indigenous households
SDH: Housing
Issues related to shortage of good quality housing
1. Inuit Nunangat: 10x the crowding (39%) vs indigenous houses (4%(- links to stress/illness, high TB rates (400X)
- On-reserve: Funding/income/legal issues impact on new housing and upkeep/repairs to older housing stock
- Homelessness: Indigenous rates 10X grater than non-indigenous, ranges from 38% (YVR) to 71% (YWG)
SDH: Social Exclusion
Connection to broader society
- Indigenous Canadians more likely to be excluded from social participation- economic civil affairs, access to social goods, social production (social/ cultural activities)
- First Nations people in Canada did not have right to vote in Federal elections until 1960 (laws changed by Diefenbaker)
SDH: Safety Net
Access to social benefits
- Accessing benefits difficult- service fragmented
- Jurisdiction issues between Federal and Provincial and Local
- Internet often needed- but may not be available on-reserve
SDH: Health Services
Vary with barriers to care
- Direct Federal provision of health care in about 500 communities (FNIHB)- health centers with varying services
- FNIHB also runs two hospitals and 50 drug treatment centers
- Barriers in accessing health care include: health services not available in area, transport, costs, NIHB coverage issues
SDH: Disability
Jurisdiction and funding issues are barriers
- Adults: split between INAC and NIHB for funding issues
- Children: “Jordans Principle” to provide Federal funding for on-reserve services, but legal issues over who receives what
SDH; Indigenous Status
SDH and health outcomes seen here
- Indigenous BUT many cultures and traditions and languages
SDH: Gender
Gender issues impact on women and on men
- Indigenous women 2x as likely to experience intimate partner violence as non-indigenous women
- Indigenous men experience 2x more violence
SDH: Racism
Structural and interpersonal racism impacts
- Structural systems that can cause harm, isolate, prevent health
- Interpersonal: stereotypes (anti) (social) media, day-today
How are things changing?
- EducationL Efforts to indigenize curricula by including indigenous perspective and knowledge
- Health Services: Increasing work on implementing cultural competence and cultural safety
- Health Services/ Disability: Changes to departments at Federal level may make funding/programming better
- Increasing understanding of colonization history and its impacts on Indigenous Canadians but still much more work to be done by all of us
