Housing

Health is much more than the absence of disease. A number of factors have an impact on the health of individuals and communities, including income, economic development, housing, food security, environment, education and self-determination.

Inadequate and overcrowded housing has led to high rates of respiratory illnesses and most recently to more young Inuit leaving their home communties. Tuberculosis rates in Inuit communities are the highest in Canada. While many other factors are involved, there is no doubt that overcrowding can contribute to and exacerbate mental health problems.

Inuit Tuttarvingat recognizes that housing is an important determinant of Inuit health. We have focused attention on the topic of housing and, guided by recommendations from an initial workshop on “Homelessness and Housing Realities for Inuit” we have begun development of products and activities in our series “Health and Housing Realities for Inuit”.

Featured Resources:

Coming soon HOUSING REALITIES FOR INUIT 2012 WORKSHOP REPORT
You might be interested in presentations given at the workshop, held on February 15 and 16, 2012, in Ottawa.

• Northern Housing Innovations, by Bill Semple, Senior Researcher, Sustainable Housing Policy and Research, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, Ottawa, Ontario.
• RSV and The Ulu: The Cutting Edge of Research into the Causes of Severe Recurrent Lower Respiratory Tract Infections in Inuit Infants, by Tom Kovesi MD, Pediatric Respirologist, Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario.
• Climate Change and Health Adaptation Program for Northern First Nations and Inuit Communities, by Diane McClymont Peace, Environmental Health Research Division, First Nations and Inuit Health Branch, Health Canada, Ottawa, Ontario.

If Not Now … When? Addressing the Ongoing Inuit Housing Crisis in Canada: This report provides an overview of existing evidence of impacts on health from inadequate housing. Including the topics of respiratory health, child health and urban homelessness, the document also provides a brief overview of the history of housing programs and the economic side of housing in the Arctic. A separate section explores the development of the concept of determinants of health and efforts to make this concept operationable in an Inuit and Indigenous context.  Key findings relate to the current burden on Inuit society and the risk that this burden will have even greater consequences for future generations.

If Not Now … When? Addressing the Ongoing Inuit Housing Crisis in Canada – Key Findings:  This document offers on six pages the key findings of the full report.

Other Resources from Inuit Tuttarvingat:

Housing as a Determinant of Health: 2010 Annotated Bibliography: This document provides summaries of articles documenting the relationship between health and housing.

Homelessness and Housing Realities for Inuit – Workshop Report: Results of a two-day workshop held in March 2008 to identify the most pressing issues concerning homelessness and housing as experienced by Inuit.

Homelessness and Housing Realities for Inuit – Background and Glossary: This document contains materials provided to workshop participants to guide their discussions.

The Role of Housing as a Determinant of Health for Inuit in Canada: Presentation at the 14th International Congress on Circumpolar Health (ICCH), Yellowknife, NT, July 2009.

The Role of Housing as a Determinant of Health for Inuit in Canada: Presentation at the Aboriginal Policy Research Conference, Ottawa, ON, March 2009