Drinking water quality in Indigenous communities in Canada and health outcomes: a scoping review
Background: Many Indigenous communities in Canada live with high-risk drinking water systems and drinking water advisories and experience health status and water quality below that of the general population. A scoping review of research examining drinking water quality and its relationship to Indige...
| Published in: | International Journal of Circumpolar Health |
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| Main Authors: | , , , |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Taylor & Francis Group
2016
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3402/ijch.v75.32336 https://doaj.org/article/0b0d877783654e038261e0e0dabcbe7b |
| Summary: | Background: Many Indigenous communities in Canada live with high-risk drinking water systems and drinking water advisories and experience health status and water quality below that of the general population. A scoping review of research examining drinking water quality and its relationship to Indigenous health was conducted. Objective: The study was undertaken to identify the extent of the literature, summarize current reports and identify research needs. Design: A scoping review was designed to identify peer-reviewed literature that examined challenges related to drinking water and health in Indigenous communities in Canada. Key search terms were developed and mapped on five bibliographic databases (MEDLINE/PubMED, Web of Knowledge, SciVerse Scopus, Taylor and Francis online journal and Google Scholar). Online searches for grey literature using relevant government websites were completed. Results: Sixteen articles (of 518; 156 bibliographic search engines, 362 grey literature) met criteria for inclusion (contained keywords; publication year 2000–2015; peer-reviewed and from Canada). Studies were quantitative (8), qualitative (5) or mixed (3) and included case, cohort, cross-sectional and participatory designs. In most articles, no definition of “health” was given (14/16), and the primary health issue described was gastrointestinal illness (12/16). Challenges to the study of health and well-being with respect to drinking water in Indigenous communities included irregular funding, remote locations, ethical approval processes, small sample sizes and missing data. Conclusions: Research on drinking water and health outcomes in Indigenous communities in Canada is limited and occurs on an opportunistic basis. There is a need for more research funding, and inquiry to inform policy decisions for improvements of water quality and health-related outcomes in Indigenous communities. A coordinated network looking at First Nations water and health outcomes, a database to store and create access to research findings, increased ... |
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