NWT RESEARCH DATABASE

Regions: Inuvialuit Settlement Region

Tags: health, wellness, socio-economics, psychology

Objective(s): The objective of this study is to evaluate community health in the ISR in the context of planning initiatives. Health and well-being can be linked to both environmental and socio-economic factors as well as physiological factors. Examining differences in services and facilities between communities and any correlated differences in health may provide useful information about improving health and well-being in the communities.

Project Description: The objective of this study is to evaluate community health in the ISR in the context of planning initiatives. Health and well-being can be linked to both environmental and socio-economic factors as well as physiological factors. Examining differences in services and facilities between communities and any correlated differences in health may provide useful information about improving health and well-being in the communities. The researcher plans to examine and compare the health and well-being of six Inuvialuit communities: Inuvik, Tuktoyaktuk, Sachs Harbour, Paulatuk, Ulukhaktok and Aklavik. She will use health statistics information and correlate it with information that she gathers about services and infrastructure in the communities. She will examine connections through interviews using open-ended, qualitative questions. The researcher will work mostly from Inuvik. She plans to visit other communities where possible to interview people who are interested in participating in the study. The study will involve interviewing people who have information, as a result of their work or personal experience, about community health and well-being in the north generally, and the ISR specifically. The questions will look at the connection between land use and health and well-being. The researcher expects to interview about 20-30 people in total. The researcher would like to communicate the results of her study in an interesting and informative way. She plans to develop a website with information about the study on it - presented in a plain language format. She hopes to be able to make presentations in communities who are interested in hearing more about the research. She would like to collaborate in her research as much as possible with local community members in doing this research. She hopes that there will be opportunities to work with a wide variety of people in doing this research. She hopes that there will be opportunities to share her research with the communities where possible. In particular, she is interested in show-casing examples of northern based community health initiatives and how these are useful. Fieldwork will be conducted from August 17 to December 31, 2007 in Inuvik, Ulukhaktok, Aklavik, Tuktoyaktuk, Paulatuk and Sachs Harbour.