First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples living in Canada face profound health disparities relative to non-Indigenous Canadians on almost every measure of health and well-being. Advancing health opportunities for Indigenous peoples require responses at all levels of healthcare delivery and policy. Therefore, it is critical for health leaders and providers within Canada’s healthcare institutions, systems, and settings to understand and address the determinants of health unique to Indigenous peoples, including the legacy of colonialism and both long-standing and present-day racism. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada provides a starting point from which positive responses to injustices can be advanced.
Indigenous Physicians Association of Canada & The Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada. First Nations, Inuit, Métis Health Core Competencies A Curriculum Framework for Undergraduate Medical Education. Available at: https://www.afmc.ca/pdf/CoreCompetenciesEng.pdf. 2009. Accessed January 23, 2017.
3.
AllanBSmylieJ. First Peoples, Second Class Treatment The Role of Racism in the Health and Well-being of Indigenous Peoples in Canada. Toronto, Ontario: The Wellesley Institute; 2015.
KingMSmithAGraceyM. Indigenous health part 2: the underlying cases of the health gap. Lancet. 2009;374(9683):76–85.
6.
de LeeuwS. Chapter 9: Activating place: Geography as a determinant of Indigenous peoples’ health and well-being. In: GreenwoodMde LeeuwSLindsayNMReadingC, eds. Determinants of Indigenous Peoples’ Health in Canada Beyond the Social. Toronto, Ontario: Canadian Scholars’ Press Inc.; 2015:90–104.
McShaneKSmylieJAdomakoP.Health of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis children in Canada. In: SmylieJAdomakoP, eds. Indigenous children’s health report: Health assessment in action. Ottawa, Ontario: First Nations and Inuit Health Branch, Health Canada; 2009:11–63.
CookeMBeavonDMcHardyM. Measuring the well-being of Aboriginal peoples: an application of the United Nations Human Development Index to registered Indians in Canada, 1981-2001 (Paper No 158). Aboriginal Policy Research Consortium International (APRCi). Available at: http://ir.lib.uwo.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1286&context=aprci. 2004. Accessed January 23, 2017.
LuoZCKieransWJWilkinsRListonRMUhSHKramerMS. for the British Columbia Vital Statistics Agency. Infant mortality among First Nations versus non-First Nations in British Columbia: Temporal trends in rural versus urban areas, 1981-2000. Int J Epidemiol. 2004;33(6):1252–1259.
LeakeJJozzySUswakG. Severe dental caries, impacts and determinants among children 2-6 years of age in in Inuvik Region, Northwest Territories, Canada. J Can Dent Assoc. 2008;74(6):519.
23.
MauldinJCameronHDJeanotteD. Chronic arthritis in children and adolescents in two Indian health service user populations. BMC Musculoskelet Disord. 2004;5:30–37.
24.
RheeH. Prevalence and predictors of headaches in US adolescents. Headache2000;40(7):528–538.
25.
Health Canada. First Nations Comparable Health Indicators. Ottawa: Health Canada; 2005.
26.
GarriguetD. Obesity and the eating habits of the Aboriginal population. Health Rep. 2008;19(1):1–15.
Public Health Agency of Canada. Understanding the HIV/AIDS epidemic among Aboriginal peoples in Canada: the community at a glance. Available at: http://librarypdf.catie.ca/PDF/P27/22440.pdf. 2004. Accessed January 23, 2017.
29.
Health Canada. A Statistical Profile on the Health of First Nations in Canada. Ottawa, Ontario: Health Canada, First Nations and Inuit Health Branch; 2003.
30.
ChandlerMJLalondeC. Cultural continuity as a hedge against suicide in Canada’s First Nations. Transcult Psychiatry. 1998;35(2):191–219.
31.
Indigenous Health Working Group. Health and Health Care Implications of Systemic Racism on Indigenous Peoples in Canada. Mississauga, Ontario: The College of Family Physicians of Canada and Indigenous Physicians Association of Canada; 2016.
32.
ParadiesYHarrisRAndersonI. The Impact of Racism on Indigenous Health in Australia and Aotearoa: Towards a Research Agenda (Discussion Paper No. 4). Darwin, Australia: Cooperative Research Centre for Aboriginal Health; 2008.
33.
The Jordan’s Principle Working Group. Without Denial, Delay, or Disruption Ensuring First Nations Children’s Access to Equitable Services Through Jordan’s Principle. Ottawa, Ontario: Assembly of First Nations; 2015.
Aboriginal Nurses Association of Canada, Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing, & Canadian Nurses Association. Cultural Competence and Cultural Safety in Nursing Education A Framework for First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Nursing. Ottawa, Ontario: Aboriginal Nurses Association of Canada; 2009.
36.
Canadian Nurses Association & Aboriginal Nurses Association of Canada. Aboriginal Health Nursing and Aboriginal Health: Charting Policy Direction for Nursing in Canada. Ottawa, Ontario: Canadian Nurses Association; 2014.
37.
CastellanoMB. The spiritual dimension of holistic health: a reflection. In: GreenwoodMde LeeuwSLindsayNMReadingC, eds. Determinants of Indigenous Peoples’ Health in Canada Beyond the Social. Toronto, Ontario: Canadian Scholars’ Press Inc.; 2015:33–39. Chap 4.
38.
CastledenHMartinDLewisD.From embedded in place to marginalized out and back again: indigenous peoples’ experience of health in Canada. In: GiesbrechtMDCrooksVA, eds. Place Health and Diversity Learning from the Canadian Experience. New York, NY: Routledge; 2016:29–53.
39.
Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, and Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans. Available at: http://www.pre.ethics.gc.ca/pdf/eng/tcps2-2014/TCPS_2_FINAL_Web.pdf. 2014. Accessed January 23, 2017.
40.
CastellanoBReadingJ. Policy writing as dialogue: drafting an Aboriginal chapter for Canada’s Tri-Council Policy Statement: ethical conduct for research involving humans. Int Indigenous Pol J. 2010;1(2):1–18.
ChandlerMJDunlopWL. Cultural wounds demand cultural medicines. In: GreenwoodMde LeeuwSLindsayNMReadingC, eds. Determinants of Indigenous Peoples’ Health in Canada Beyond the Social. Toronto, Ontario: Canadian Scholars’ Press Inc.; 2015:78–90. Chap 8.
