Canada needs a holistic First Nations health strategy

Policy silences: why Canada needs a National First Nations, Inuit and Métis health policy

OBJECTIVES Despite attempts, policy silences continue to create barriers to addressing the healthcare needs of First Nations, Inuit and Métis. The purpose of this article is to answer the question, if what we have in Canada is an Aboriginal health policy patchwork that fails to address inequities, then what would a Healthy Aboriginal Health Policy framework look like? METHODS The data collect...

Empowering health promotion: a holistic approach in preventing sexually transmitted infections among first nations and inuit adolescents in Canada.

Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) such as gonorrhea and chlamydia, among others, are significant health concerns for Canadian aboriginal (i.e., First Nations, Inuit) adolescents. This is further compounded by ineffective prevention and promotion strategies that were designed to lessen the incidence of STIs in this population. Structure and content of health service programs are crucial con...

Canada needs seniors' health care strategy: CMA report card.

Canada needs a national suicide prevention strategy.

Heartsick over the loss of more than 800 Inuit who have seen no way through their pain except to end their own lives,1 Inuit Tapiirit Kanatami (ITK), the national Inuit political association, recently released an evidence-based suicide prevention strategy.2 The culturally specific strategy is intended to address the glaring void that has been left by Canada’s lack of a national suicide preventi...

Assessing Needs: Asthma in First Nations and Inuit Communities in Canada

Methods: An initial environmental scan provided a comprehensive understanding of the population characteristics needed to design the study and develop the survey questionnaire and focus group materials. Data were collected using telephone surveys with community health personnel and focus groups with community members (e.g., parents, children, and school personnel) affected by asthma to assess t...