95 Child Health Promotion Through Community Educational Sessions in an Urban Inuit Community: A Needs Assessment

• Published in: Paediatrics & Child Health
• Main Authors: Hummel, Brian, Bierstone, Daniel, Jetty, Radha, Newhook, Dennis, Messam, Janice, Beadle, Trish, Sutherland, Stephanie
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford University Press 2020
• Subjects: Abstract / Résumés; inuit
• Online Access: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7437269/; https://doi.org/10.1093/pch/pxaa068.094

INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND: Canadian Inuit children experience significant health disparities compared to their non-Inuit counterparts. Despite almost one-fifth of Canadian Inuit living in urban centres, few studies have explored their health needs. Current literature surveying Indigenous leaders identifies the need for improved access to child health and parenting knowledge. Community-based initiatives have been shown to improve Indigenous maternal and child health outcomes. Our study aimed to describe urban Inuit parents’ perspectives on accessing child health knowledge to guide development of Inuit-specific health knowledge-sharing initiatives. OBJECTIVES: 1. What are the barriers and facilitators faced by caregivers of Inuit children in an urban centre to accessing child health information? 2. What child health topics would urban Inuit benefit from learning more about? 3. What would be the best format and setting for the sharing of child health information with caregivers or Inuit children in an urban centre? DESIGN/METHODS: In conjunction with community partners, we conducted a qualitative needs assessment through focus groups at an urban-situated organization that provides cultural, educational, and social services to Inuit children and families. Participants were parents and caregivers of Inuit children. All focus groups were recorded, transcribed, and imported into NVivo software. Inductive coding was used to identify themes related to participants’ sources of health knowledge, barriers and facilitators to accessing health knowledge, and health topics that participants hoped to learn more about. RESULTS: Twenty-four individuals participated in four focus groups, of which twenty-one (88%) identified as Inuit. While participants represented a range of ages (19-40 years), most participants (42%) were 31-40 years old. The majority of participants (88%) identified as female. Participants had lived a median of 15 years in an urban setting (interquartile range 10-23). Seventeen participants (71%) cared for ...