Injury Prevention
Inuit, along with First Nations, continue to suffer from injuries at levels that far exceed those experienced by other Canadians. To help address this serious problem, a National First Nations and Inuit Injury Prevention Working Group was established to provide guidance in injury prevention and control for First Nations and Inuit in Canada. The objective of the working group is the development and promotion of a culturally relevant national framework for injury prevention and control. The working group is provided with Secretariat support from FNIHB.
Consultative processes form the basis on which the mandate of the working group is undertaken. Funding has been provided by Health Canada to enable organizations to undertake research and consultations to identify priorities, needs and recommendations in regards to the development of a culturally appropriate and relevant injury prevention framework. An environmental scan is being conducted in the Inuit regions to obtain information on the priorities, needs and perceptions of injury among Inuit.
ITK is also working on developing a workshop on injury prevention that can be used in the Inuit regions to pass on information on this topic.
Injury Prevention Workshop and Manual
Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami developed and produced an Injury Prevention workshop manual with a process of planning, analysing and delivering a pilot workshop with Inuit regional representation held in Kuujuaq, Quebec from April 26 to the 27th, 2002.
Facilitator provided injury data information from all Inuit regions and discussed with participants varying types of preventable injuries. Through the process of discussions, each participant identified key issues as priorities of injury prevention in their respective regions. Participants were then asked to prepare an exercise proposal, followed by presentation and discussions.
At the end of the workshop, participants made recommendations in strengthening prevention programs, strengthening delivery of the workshop and recommendations from the Facilitator.