cover image: Current issues in mental health in Canada : Mental health of First Nations and Inuit communities

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Current issues in mental health in Canada : Mental health of First Nations and Inuit communities

27 Feb 2014

This paper provides a brief overview of the unique contextual factors underlying the mental health challenges experienced by First Nations and Inuit communities, it presents recent research in the area of First Nations and Inuit mental health, and it describes health services available for these communities. [...] The collective trauma and cultural disruption experienced by First Nations and Inuit people resulting from colonization, in particular, have been profound.6 Past government policies, including the systemic dispossession of land, the weakening of social and political institutions, and racial discrimination have all had lasting effects on the collective sense of identity and belonging of Aboriginal [...] In this way, mental health in First Nations and Inuit communities is equally influenced by political context, community infrastructure and resources, and the social environment in which the people live.13 3 SELECTED DATA ON MENTAL HEALTH IN FIRST NATIONS AND INUIT COMMUNITIES 3.1 INUIT COMMUNITIES Inuit communities experience suicide at a rate that is estimated to be as much as 11 times higher tha [...] Though the RHS did not determine the prevalence of psychological disorders on reserve, the elevated rate of psychological distress was suggestive of a corresponding elevated rate of psychological disorders in First Nations communities.27 4 MENTAL HEALTH CARE SERVICES Health services and prevention programs are crucial in preventing and treating serious mental health issues. [...] Through the First Nations and Inuit Health Branch of Health Canada, the federal government provides certain health services and programs to eligible First Nations communities and Inuit living in their traditional territories.
health government politics psychology mental health canada indians of north america culture ethics inuit social sciences suicide health care parliament community human activities suicide prevention indians, north american native peoples canadian indian residential school system first nations territories aboriginal first nation nunavut indigenous and northern affairs canada indigenous peoples in canada first nations people nunatsiavut aboriginal affairs and northern development canada inuit nunangat

Authors

Kielland, Norah, Simeone, Tonina

Pages
12
Published in
Ottawa, Ontario

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