Questions & Answers

 

What is the purpose of the website?

This website will be a tool for individuals, communities and the health care community. It will provide Inuit with easy access to health statistics that have been hard to find in the past.

We plan to produce community profiles and fact sheets as well as analytical reports on topics of high priority, such as overcrowding and cancer. Once all of the data is gathered, we will be able to see where the gaps in Inuit health research are.

 

 

What are your sources?

To start, we are working with statistics that have been compiled by Statistics Canada for the Aboriginal Peoples Survey and Aboriginal Children's Survey, as well as data collected for the Nunavik Inuit Health Survey. There are also some territorial and provincial statistics that we will examine related to certain diseases.

 

 

Will you be conducting your own surveys?

No. We will work exclusively with existing statistics, both raw and analyzed, to make these more accessible in one location.

 

 

What health statistics will be collected?

The things that concern people everywhere in the world are important to Inuit. The Data Analysts are collecting data on physical and mental health conditions in Inuit communities, information on the rate of diseases, birth weights, life expectancy and many other determinants of health. Inuit in the four northern regions face unique health challenges related to distance from services and the high cost of living. Statistics like the rate of smoking and lung cancer, the high number of occupants in Northern households, and low income levels are essential for regional Inuit organizations, governments, and community leaders to have on hand to better address these problems.

 

 

How will these health statistics have an impact?

Numbers can be very meaningful to people who are working in policy and programming. Through consultations with community stakeholders, we will find out how to best communicate numbers effectively on this site.

We know that community leaders and health workers need statistics when deciding where to spend health promotion money. It is helpful to them when they want to justify to the public why they are spending money on a health promotion campaign, such as reducing smoking rates.

 

 

When will Inuit health statistics be available on the website?

Data will start to be published on the site in November 2009. The Inuit health data will be available on the community, regional, and national levels.

 

 

Aren’t you just duplicating what’s on other websites?

 

Most of the data on this website can be found on other sites but nowhere can you find it all in one place and in an easy to use form. We will gather, analyze and publish the most useful available statistics on this website.

 

 

Are there plans to sustain the project and website?

 

The project is building an Inuit health information system that is user friendly. Ideally, each region will have a data centre, with their information compiled nationally, and shared through one website. One of the main purposes of the project is to build capacity, at the regional level, to describe, analyze and disseminate health data. For true capacity, we need to have Inuit trained to manage these systems.

 

 

What are the qualifications of the Data Analysts?

 

The Analysts will gain skills to assess data quality and present it in an appropriate form. We are developing the skills of the Analysts and are supplementing their skills with outside expertise where appropriate. Each of the Analysts is attending workshops with Statistics Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada to gain knowledge on the basic concepts to work with health statistics. They also have access to mentors who are statistics methodologists and epidemiologists with federal, provincial and territorial departments.

Inuit statistics

ITK’s Inuit Statistical Profile is here.

Statistic Canada’s Aboriginal Population Profile, 2006 Census is here.

 

Over 20 reports from the Nunavik Inuit Health Survey 2004 Qanuippitaa? can be found here.

 

Nunavaat, published by the University of Laval, hosts statistics for Nunavik here.

Visit the Community Accounts Profiles of the Inuit communities of Nain and Hopedale, in the Nunatsiavut territory of Nfld. & Labrador. In searching for inspiration for the future Naasautit Web site, we found the approach and many of the user friendly features of this ground breaking Web site very useful. We went to Nain, Nunatasiavut to find out what Inuit there thought about Community Accounts. We conducted some usability testing and explored reaction to comparing communities. While there, we were honoured with a visit from the President of the Nunatsiavut Government, see the video here

 

Canadian Statistics

 

Canadian Health Iindicators at Statistics Canada

 

The Chronic Disease Infobase profiles the epidemiology of major non-communicable diseases in Canada, including the most current cancers; and cardiovascular and respiratory diseases; by province/territory and by regional health unit.

 

 

Canadian Institute of Health Information (CIHI) 2009 Health Indicators.

 

 

Indicators of Well-being in Canada at Human Resources and Skills Development Canada.