Alcohol Use disorders and harm-reduction in indigenous coastal communities of Hudson Bay Northern Canada

• Published in: Cogent Public Health
• Main Authors: Arnold Hill, Patricia Benson, Richard Hill
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2023
• Subjects: Binge Drinking; Suicide; Brief Intervention; Native Healing Programmes; Truth and Reconciliation; Public aspects of medicine; RA1-1270; Canada; Greenland; Hudson; Hudson Bay; Alaska
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1080/27707571.2023.2177132; https://doaj.org/article/d1af65c63f7e4beab0a502428ef8acb8

Abstract: Alcohol use disorders are a major contributor to morbidity and mortality across the globe. Binge drinking and suicide have a high prevalence in northern latitudes, including Canada, Alaska, Greenland, and northern Europe. Many factors are associated with alcohol misuse and suicide in these northern regions such as climate, geographic location, history of the population, which in Canada includes colonisation-related harms such as the introduction of alcohol and systematic suppression of native cultures, on-going psychosocial stressors, and governmental policies. Due to the high prevalence of alcohol misuse and suicide in the studied population, the authors introduced contextually relevant Brief Intervention (BI) into the ER and ambulatory care settings as a harm-reduction measure. The impact of BI on binge drinking and suicide is discussed. The co-ordination of BI with other harm-reduction strategies in the region include suicide awareness and intervention training, efforts by provincial and federal governmental agencies using special teams to limit the social and psychological impact of recent suicides in communities, the return of AA groups after a ten-year hiatus, and importantly the establishment of native healing programmes.