End health inequities between Aboriginal and non-Aborginal Canadians: report

“Understanding and Improving Aboriginal Maternal and Child Health in Canada,” a report on the health inequities between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Canadians, urges governments to spend more money on health care for Inuit, Métis and First Nations.

“Understanding and Improving Aboriginal Maternal and Child Health in Canada,” a report on the health inequities between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Canadians, says governments need to spend more money on health care for Inuit, Métis and First Nations.

The report, released today in Toronto, calls for more focus on programs that work, such as Aborginal Head Start, the Canada Prenatal Nutrition Program and midwifery programs, and the development of new, culturally-adapted programs with “stable, multi-year funding.”

The report says effective programs can reduce health disparities between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Canadians, which include a higher birth rate, poorer overall health and a lower life expectancy.

“While there is considerable diversity among First Nations, Inuit and Métis populations, they share significantly worse health and living conditions than the rest of the Canadian population,” said John G. Abbott, the chief executive officer of the Health Council of Canada, in a news release.

“Breaking this cycle should be a policy imperative for governments given the much younger demographic profile of Aboriginal communities and their higher birth rate.”

The Health Council of Canada held consultations in aboriginal centres across Canada to get participants’ assessment of causes and solutions for the gap in health care outcomes for Aboriginal Canadians.

Participants at these discussion sessions across Canada highlighted more than 100 programs, policies, organizations and strategies that are believed to be making improvements to the health of expectant Aboriginal mothers and young children, the report says.

One theme that came up repeatedly was the need for “improved and coordinated access to a team of health care professionals who would provide culturally sensitive care,” it says.

The need for parenting knowledge, skills, and support, particularly for young parents, was a also recurring theme.

And participants discussed “the struggle to return birthing to communities as one illustration of the lack of cultural awareness in health delivery.”

“Understanding and Improving Aboriginal Maternal and Child Health in Canada” is the first in a multi-year series of projects by the Health Council of Canada aimed at learning more about Aboriginal health, and programs “that have the potential to make a difference.”

The Health Council website provides additional details about this report, and a summary of the seven regional sessions.