NWT RESEARCH DATABASE

Regions: Inuvialuit Settlement Region, Gwich'in Settlement Area, Sahtu Settlement Area, Dehcho Region, North Slave Region, South Slave Region

Tags: health, youth, wellbeing, children's health

Objective(s): To gain insight into, and increase understanding of, the health behaviors and attitudes of young people, including their related social contexts; and, to monitor trends in the health of young Canadians over time.

Project Description: This licence has been issued for the scientific research application No.5391. The study titled, Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC), is a cross-national research project conducted by the HBSC research team at Queen’s and Brock Universities in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO Europe) and the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC). The HBSC study aims to gain insight into, and increase understanding of, the health behaviours and attitudes of young people, including their related social contexts. It is also used to monitor trends in the health of young Canadians over time. In the current cycle there is the additional objective to investigate the impact of Covid-19 on young Canadians. This study utilizes a student survey and a school administrator survey. Students in grades 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 will be asked to complete a health survey using paper survey booklets in their classroom once during the 2022-23 academic year under the supervision of a teacher. The survey is anonymous and it takes between 30 to 60 minutes to complete for students who are at grade-level for reading. Some teachers may choose to read the questionnaire aloud and have their students go through it together. With this approach it is understood that the time required is increased. Additionally, a school administrator survey will be used to collect data on school-level information about school climate, school health education curricula, school health policies, and the physical environment of the school and neighbourhood. The administrator survey takes approximately 20 minutes to complete. For the HBSC study, there is an option to use active or passive parent/guardian consent. Data collection in NWT is facilitated by the NWT department of Education, Culture, and Employment (ECE) and they have opted to use the passive consent methodology. All materials for the survey including postage are provided by the research team. Short accessible school level reports will be provided for each school with 30 or more participating students with a turnaround target of 8 weeks after the completed surveys are received. For schools with less than 30 participants they will receive the same report that combine the results for schools from their region. A national report on the findings of the study will be sent to each participating school. A territorial report and regional reports written in consultation with the partners in NWT will be provided to the NWT government, as well as, the NWT data set through a licensing agreement. The research team provides support for use of the data. It is the understanding that the dissemination of territorial and regional results and the engagement of communities and stakeholders in the interpretation of the results is facilitated by the partners in NWT. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from November 18, 2022 to December 31, 2022.