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National Collaborating Centres for Public Health
The six National Collaborating Centres (NCCs) for Public Health address environmental health, Aboriginal health, healthy public policy, infectious diseases, the determinants of health, and methods and tools in support of public health. Together, they help strengthen public health practices and policies in Canada.
Subscribe to the NCCs e-bulletin.
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| Upcoming events | 
Feeding Mind, Body and Spirit - A Gathering of Dietitian and Nutrition Professionals working with Aboriginal Communities in Canada. December 6-7, 2011, Toronto, Ontario. This event first national gathering celebrates 10 years of the Aboriginal Nutrition Network. Learn more . The Sacred Space of Motherhood: Mothering Across the Generations - January 24-25, 2012, Ottawa, Ontario. This NCCAH-hosted two day event focuses on the cultural definition and roles of mothers across the generations. Contact Teri Delaney at nccah@unbc.ca. Advancing Health Equity, Building on Experience: 2012 National Collaborating Centres for Public Health (NCCPH) Summer Institute - May 15-16, 2012, Kelowna, BC. This event builds on experience in the six priority areas of the NCCPH: environmental health, Aboriginal health, infectious diseases, methods and tools for knowledge translation, healthy public policy and determinants of health. More to come this December: www.si2012.ca. |
| NCCAH DVD now available! | |
"...With Dad: Strengthening the Circle of Care" DVD is now availabe to view on our website, as a DVD, and on our VIMEO channel.
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| New Aboriginal Health resources | |
Honouring our Strengths: A Renewed Framework to Address Substance Use Issues Among first Nation People in Canada - by a coalition of the Assembly of First Nations, the National Native Addictions Partnership Foundation and Health Canada. See NNAPF for more.
Honoring the Children: Shadow Report, 3rd and 4th periodic report to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child. Submitted by the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society release report at the United Nations. See press release.
Report on the State of Public Health in Canada 2011: Youth and Young Adults - Life in Transition. The Chief Public Health Officer of Canada's 2011 report. notes that youth from low-income families, youth who live in remote communities, sexual and gender minority youth, and Aboriginal youth are among those disproportionately represented as not doing as well as other Canadian young people in some key public health areas.
Understanding and Improving Aboriginal Maternal and Child Health in Canada: Compendium of Promising Practices - Health Council of Canada.
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| Related Links |
The following organizations are supported or championed by the NCCAH.
Network for Aboriginal Mental Health Research
Health-evidence.ca
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 The NCCAH makes promising new links for health
trengthen Canada's public health capacity.
our winter 2011 newsletter and have a safe and joyous holiday season!
Margo Greenwood
Academic Leader,
National Collaborating Centre for Aboriginal Health
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NCCAH National Gathering - Healthy Land, Healthy People
The connections between people, health and land was a highlight
of an NCCAH-hosted international gathering October 3-5, 2011.
Among the guests in a Squamish longhouse on the West Coast of British Columbia was Hine Tohu, a Maori 'cultural guardian' working to heal a toxic lake in her Northern New Zealand homeland.
She was joined by Charlotte Wolfrey, the Inuk mayor of Rigolet whose community in northern Labrador is grappling with the ecological and cultural effects of melting ice and changing landscapes.
"We need to see that the well-being of Indigenous peoples centers on the critical health of water systems and ecosystems - and that
Indigenous knowledge is key to how we go about effecting meaningful and urgent change," said Dr. Margo Greenwood, Academic Lead of the National Collaborating Centre for Aboriginal Health.
In New Zealand, Maori community leaders like Ms. Tohu are helping to address the environmental collapse of Lake Omapere in her tribe's ancestral region in the northland -- using Maori approaches to solving problems that western science and political approaches alone could not. A highlight of the initiative is the Cultural Health Index, a tool that integrates Maori knowledge with Western science research methods.
In northern Labrador, research on the challenges of climate change suggest that coping strategies for adaptation and change are urgent - in everything from hunting and navigation practices to
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Maori cultural guardian Hine Tohu |
efforts in support of greenhouse gas emissions reductions.
We invite you to read more about the gathering as the NCCAH continues its support for a wholistic 'ecohealth' approach to Indigenous well-being that centres on a reciprocal relationship with the land.
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 Traditional Aboriginal Diets and Health
From moose stew to berries and bannock: linking health and diet
Cynthia Munger's always got something on the stove
in her home community in northern B.C. This year, she was counting on local hunters to provide two moose so that she could smoke meat and prepare moose meat stew - with as many people in the community as she could round up.
Her willingness to cook with young mothers and Elders in her Stellat'en First Nation community has proven so popular, she's now sharing canning, cooking and healthy eating skills with more than 10 of the communities in the Carrier Sekani territories. She learned her own skills from her grandparents - and especially from her grandmother Marian Luggi, and from her uncles who provided wildlife meat and fish.
"We have a huge diabetic population, and the majority of our people have Type II diabetes," said Munger, a community health representative whose dedication to education in healthy eating - passed down through generations of her family - led to national recognition from the National Aboriginal Diabetes Association in 2006. "This is a lifestyle change back to traditional diets."
Traditional Aboriginal foods - such as Munger is supporting in her community - offer cultural, social and nutritional benefits that contribute to the health of Aboriginal peoples and communities through a variety of complex pathways. Yet, changed patterns of consumption are increasing the risk amongst Aboriginal peoples of developing cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer.
Health benefits and barriers to traditional Aboriginal diets
A new NCCAH evidence review by Dr. Lynda Earle, Medical Officer of Health in Nova Scotia, offers insights on the role of traditional Aboriginal diets and health in support of interventions that can help prevent chronic disease in First Nations, Inuit and M�tis communities. The report is based on surveys of peer-reviewed and non-academic literature sources and touches on:
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Sharing traditional food in downtown Ottawa: a seal flown in from Nunavut is shared recently with children, Elders and families at the Ottawa Inuit Children's Centre.
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current consumption patterns in Aboriginal communities
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health benefits associated with traditional diets
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the challenges of promoting traditional dietary practices
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examples of how traditional diets can be supported in Aboriginal communities.
Among the highlights: Evidence indicates a link between dietary factors - such as omega-3, folate, and vitamin B12 - and the mental health of circumpolar people. Studies also show that, although the amount of traditional food consumed over time has declined, groups such as Elders and older Aboriginal people consume 'country food' more than younger people, while hunting and trapping remains a way of life for a third of James Bay Cree.
The review addresses barriers that restrict access to traditional plant and animal resources, including food insecurity issues and environmental concerns. For instance, the ability of Aboriginal peoples living off reserve to obtain nutritionally adequate foods appears to be getting worse, increasing from 27% in 1998-99 to 33% by 2004-05.
Finally, several examples of ways in which traditional foods and food knowledge can support health in First Nations, Inuit and M�tis communities are described, including a community health promotion intervention in the Inuit community of Pangnirtung.
As highlighted in our related NCCAH slideshow, country food is increasingly a feature of community events and services - whether in rural First Nations communities, at Inuit gatherings in downtown Ottawa, or at leading hospitals like Sioux Lookout's Meno Ya Win Health Centre, where patients are offered caribou stew and other traditional foods as part of a culturally relevant approach to health.
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The state of Inuit public health in Canada: gaps, trends and needs
Inuit health in Canada faces such unique challenges that it is crucial to incorporate distinct cultural, historical, geographic, environmental and socioeconomic factors into all public health activities.
That's the finding of a new NCCAH report: State of the Knowledge: Inuit Public Health 2011. This synthesis of current knowledge identifies trends and gaps for the four northern Inuit regions (Inuvialuit, Nunavut, Nunavik and Nunatsiavut) and in southern Canadian cities.
Report author Dr. Emilie Cameron, at the University of Carleton's Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, builds on a comprehensive review of literature as well as interviews with key informants working across the four northern regions and in southern cities. She draws attention to issues such as maternal health, diabetes, sexually transmitted disease infection rates, youth suicide, climate change and data gaps, while noting that "no single public health issue facing Inuit can be addressed in isolation."
As often noted in media reports, Inuit face some of the highest rates of lung cancer in the world, along with tuberculosis rates that are 185 times higher than for non-Aboriginal Canadians and suicide rates eleven times the national average (40 times the national average among young men in Nunavut). Food security is a pressing issue, with one 2010 study finding more than two-thids of Inuit preschoolers live in food-insecure homes.
At the same time, Inuit strengths that can inform responses to such challenges include the fact that much of Inuit language and culture has been maintained. Educational attainment is also increasing and a land-based economy continues to support sustainable lives in home communities.
The report calls for holistic, culturally-sensitive initiatives to address complex and inter-generational public health problems, including Inuit-specific health indicators and the need to address underlying social, cultural and economic factors affecting the health of Inuit peoples.
The role of Inuit knowledge in the care of children...
The NCCAH has also released a series of fact sheets in English, French and Inuktitut that make significant contributions to an understanding of Inuit worldviews at the heart of Inuit well-being.
Inuit knowledge, or Inuit Quajimajatuqangit, is a dynamic and living knowledge system. As series author and educator Shirley Tagalik notes, it is key not only to a 'cultural health' approach to the well-being of Inuit children, families and communities in Canada - but also to survival of Inuit in a changing contemporary context.
The series looks at:
Inuit Elders from across Nunavut have now documented Inuit Quajimajatuqangit cultural knowledge and identfied a fremwork for IQ that can be applied in Inuit society. As a result of this documentation, the report states, "health policies grounded in this knowledge and cultural processes should follow."
We invite you to access these documents:
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The missing picture in M�tis health....
Lack of M�tis-specific data and research a challenge in Canada
M�tis increased in Canada by 91 per cent in the decade up to 2006, yet little is known about the health-status or health needs of this growing population group.
In fact, most provincial administrativ  e databases in Canada lack ethnic identifiers - and that means there is no information on such basic indicators as the infant mortality rate for That's just one of the barriers to health information outlined in a new NCCAH fact sheet that explores underlying factors behind the lack of M �tis-specific data. Unlike status First Nations and Inuit peoples, M�tis do not have access to federal health services and benefits. Instead, they must use provincial health care services, meaning that data collected for population groups such as on-reserve First Nations or Inuit is lacking for M�tis.
Author Catherine Graham, of the Metis Centre of the National Aboriginal Health Organization, also notes a critical lack of academic research. In a 30-year period from 1980 to 2009, about 80 peer-reviewed articles were published related to M�tis health; of these, only 12 per cent were
M�tis-specific.
Challenges include jurisdictional issues, under-enumeration of M�tis in provincial M�tis registries, the need for better data linkages between varies databases and more targeted research funding. Addressing these issues also means addressing systemic factors - such as M�tis identity issues and the need for representation of M�tis in decision-making bodies.
Shedding light on nutrition for M�tis infants, children and youth Two additional new NCCAH fact sheets build on findings of the 2006 Aboriginal Peoples Survey (APS) to examine the nutritional habits of M�tis children, youth and infants. Existing evidence indicates food insecruity can be a problem when M�tis children are twice as likely to live in poverty than non-Aboriginal children. This is due in part to the fact that nearly one third of M�tis chldren aged 14 and under lived with a lone parent. "The high number of single parents may be an important factor in the health and nutrition of M�tis children," author Catherine Graham suggests. Both reports urge increased efforts to reach M�tis populations in Canada to ensure the best possible health outcomes for children, youth and infants. back to top |
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NCCAH-supported Journal Articles
Several academic journal articles and book chapters supported or funded by the NCCAH have been published in 2010/2011, and are helping to inform ongoing NCCAH activities. They include:
Beyond Borders and Boundaries: Addressing Indigenous Health Inequities in Canada through Theories of Social Determinants of Health and Intersectionality In Health Inequities in Canada: Intersectional Frameworks and Practices. Edited by Olena Hankivsky, UBC Press 2011, 53-70. Authors Sarah de Leeuw and Margo Greenwood argue that understanding colonialism as a fundamental determinant of health, in conjunction with the other social determinants, can provide one means of explaining and understanding the state of Indigenous people's health in Canada today. More.
Urban Aboriginal use of fringe financial institutions: Survey evidence from Prince George, British Columbia. In Journal of Socio-Economics, 2011, 40 (6), 895-902. Published online 19 September 2011. Authors Paul Bowles, D. Ajit, Keely Dempsey, and Trevor Shaw analyse the use of fringe financial institutions (FFIs), such as payday loan and check cashing providers, by urban Aboriginal people, based on a survey undertaken in Prince George, British Columbia. They argue that government policy towards regulating the FFI industry is inadequate for meeting the basic financial needs of urban Aboriginal people. More.
Indigenous Youth Engagement in Canada's Health Care In Pimatisiwin: A Journal of Aboriginal and Indigenous Community Health, 2011, 9 (1), 87-111. Authors Natasha Blanchet-Cohen, Zora McMillan and Margo Greenwood discuss findings from a study on Indigenous youth's perspectives on and engagement in health care. Their results highlight the value and implications of affirming Indigenous youth's role as determiners of their own health. More.
Warming up to the Embodied Context of First Nations Child Health: A Critical Intervention into and Analysis of Health and Climate Change Research In International Public Health Journal 2010, 2 (4), 477-485. Margot Parkes, Sarah de Leeuw, and Margo Greenwood analyze options that can help prevent climate change from exacerbating health equities experienced by Aboriginal children in Canada. More.
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NCCAH Highlights National Significance of BC First Nations Landmark Health Care Agreement
NCCAH Academic Leader Dr. Margo Greenwood offered a national perspective to local CBC radio listeners on a recent landmark federal agreement in Canada that will see First Nations health care in British Columbia transferred to a new Aboriginal authority.
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Dr. Margo Greenwood, Academic Leader of the National Collaborating Centre for Aboriginal Health.
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The agreement, signed Oct. 13, 2011 with the BC First Nations Health Society, will transfer authority and resources from Ottawa to the new agency over the next two years.
Dr. Greenwood said the agreement signified a new relationship in BC toward self-determination and community control over health.
NCCAH Hosts a National Dialogue on "Healthy Aboriginal Health Policy"
They joined an NCCAH co-hosted 'fireside chat' with lead author Dr. Jos�e Lavoie to discuss what a healthy Aboriginal health policy environment might look like in Canada - where significant policy gaps continue to affect the health and well-being of First Nations, Inuit and M�tis peoples.
Dr. Lavoie, of the University of Northern BC's School of Health Sciences, said more than a dozen different provincial and territorial healthcare systems, a trend toward regionalization, increasing Aboriginal self-government activities, and varying health delivery models are all factors in an increasingly complex system.
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Dr. Josee Lavoie, lead author of an NCCAH report synthesizing Aboriginal health policies and legislation in Canada.
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"If we close a gap in one place, a new one opens up. We can continue a piecemeal approach to patching the system, but the status quo is not supporting equitable access," said Dr. Lavoie. "And access to care defined by goodwill is too precarious."
As one participant said: "I knew there were complexities related to legislation and jurisdictions, but the differences between provinces illustrates how much needs to be sorted out. The content of this presentation is something that I think would benefit everyone that works in health."
The teleconference event was co-hosted by the NCCAH and CHNET-Works! at the University of Ottawa.
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Artistic expression: identity, health and place through Indigenous eyes
National journal edition will offer a unique perspective....
A call for creative submissions from across the country has resulted in a wide variety of fiction, poetry, essays, and visual arts contributions from new and established Indigenous artists.
Guests include award winning author Warren Cariou and renowned Haida artist Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas, while a creative essay originally prepared for submission to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission links healing from the colonial violence of residental schools with connection to place and the natural environment.
"This edition injects the question of health and Indigeneity into the equation of art and environment," said guest editor Dr. Sarah de Leeuw, a Research Associate with the National Collaborating Centre for Aboriginal Health.
"There is a solid evidence base that creative expression and art can lead to good health. Certainly for Indigenous people, a strong sense of cultural resiliency and identity rooted in place is integral to health - and creative and artistic expression is a vital way to express that relationship," she said.
In a guest editorial to be featured in the special edition, Dr. de Leeuw and NCCAH Academic Lead Dr. Margo Greenwood make note of the deterritorialization experienced by Indigenous peoples globally, as well as burdens of ill-health linked to such issues as sociocultural and economic marginalization.
They suggest that creative expressions provide "living, vibrant, and material documentations of resiliencies and strengths," and show that Indigenous peoples are "alive, thriving, and partaking in an increasingly globalized world." A moving journey.... Nancy Holmes, a co-editor of the journal, said she was moved by her own journey in facilitating this edition. "Rarely do we get to work with a group of artists whose relationship to place and to the natural world is so frequently essential to their art. It was a deeply moving experience to read submission after submission about the vital exploration of emplacement and deplacement that is being undertaken by Indigenous artists and thinkers in this country," she said. "I hope that this issue will affect readers in the way it has affected us: opening us up to new world views, shifting our own sense of how we belong to our homes and places, and reminding us of not only the legacy but also the present worth of Indigenous voices and visions. "This will be a remarkable issue of work from artists and writers from the Haida to the Haudenosaunee people," she said. The journal will be published this winter. To request a copy, please contact us at nccah@unbc.ca.
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Centre News
Events and Activities updates
Coming up!
 The Sacred Space of Womanhood: Mothering Across the Generations Jan. 24-25, 2012, Ottawa, Ontario. A national NCCAH-hosted showcase focusing on the role of First Nations, Inuit and M�tis grandmothers, mothers and women in the care of their children and families in the post-residential school era. For more information, please contact: Teri Delaney at delaney@unbc.ca.
Ready for release
The DVD "With Dad: Strengthening the Circle of Care" and accompanying report are available for distribution. Contact us: nccah@unbc.ca. Also: view the film on our website, or visit our new VIMEO channel.
International attention for NCCAH Indigenous school health framework
The NCCAH is contributing to international discussions on the role of schools as a life setting where education and health can work together to support optimal learning for students. The Centre highlighted its document: A Framework for Indigenous School Health: Foundations in Cultural Principles Nov. 29, 2011 at the 15th Annual Public Health Days of Quebec, held in partnership with the International Union for Health Promotion and Education.
Ongoing support for Aboriginal Vision Health
Aboriginal Canadians' ocular and visual health: A daunting challenge - An article in the October 2011 edition of OPTIK Magazine - a national publication geared to eye-care professionals - draws attention to the 'largely ignored' issue of the state of vision health among Aboriginal Canadians. The article cites a rise in serious ocular and visual health problems, and describes the work of the NCCAH and the Vision Institute of Canada in promoting strategies that are culturally relevant, as well as ongoing activities in support of the Vision Institute's Aboriginal Vision Health Awareness 2011 campaign.
The NCCAH : An 'innovative, groundbreaking and inclusive' promising practice
 The Health Council of Canada this year hosted seven sessions across Canada to learn about Aboriginal maternal and child health realities 'on the ground.' It then identified more than 120 models, approaches, techniques or initatives that are based on Aboriginal experiences, resonate with users of the practice, and result in positive changes in people's lives. The NCCAH is included as an example of an 'innovative, collaborative, evidence-based and inclusive" approach to public health. The document: Understanding and Improving Aboriginal Maternal and Child Health in Canada: Compendium of Promising Practices is the outcome of phase one of the Health Council's multi-year project on Aboriginal health status. Visit www.healthcouncilcanada.ca for more. . back to top |
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National Collaborating Centre for Aboriginal Health
National Collaborating Centre for Aboriginal Health
3333 University Way
Prince George, British Columbia V2N 4Z9
Tel: 250-960-5250
Fax: 250-960-5644
Web: www.nccah.ca
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