Exploring the perspectives of caregivers of urban Inuit children on child health knowledge mobilisation

ABSTRACT

Our study sought to explore the experiences of caregivers of urban Inuit children with respect to child health knowledge acquisition to develop community-specific best practices for health promotion initiatives. A needs assessment was conducted to understand how caregivers access child health knowledge and services; what child health issues require improved knowledge mobilisation; and how caregivers would like to access this knowledge. Four focus groups were held with twenty-four parents and caregivers of Inuit children. Child health knowledge acquisition was influenced by dynamics of trust and discrimination, making caregivers’ social networks and Indigenous health services highly valued sources. Health topics identified as requiring improved knowledge mobilisation were those in which caregivers faced tensions between Indigenous and non-Indigenous ways of knowing. Such topics included parenting and development, adolescent mental and sexual health, common childhood illnesses, infant care, and nutrition. Caregivers preferred a multi-modal approach to health promotion, highlighting importance of in-person gatherings while also valuing accessible multi-media components. The presence of Elders as facilitators was especially important for child development, parenting, and nutrition. For health promotion to be effective, it must consider community-specific health knowledge sharing processes; tensions between Indigenous and non-Indigenous ways of knowing; and community ownership in health promotion endeavors.

KEYWORDS:

• Inuit
• urban health
• child and youth health
• community health
• health promotion
• health knowledge translation

Acknowledgments

We would like to acknowledge the wonderful staff and members of the Inuuqatigiit Centre for Inuit Children, Youth and Families for their partnership, as well as the Canadian Pediatric Society, the PSI Foundation, and the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute for their gracious funding support. We would also like to thank Danika Goveas and Justina Marianayagam for their help transcribing audio recordings.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

All data was collected and stored on a secure software called REDCap at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute. Coding was done using NVivo software and is securely stored. See attached codebook summary. Transcriptions are available at additional request.

Author contributions

Brian Hummel and Daniel Bierstone are co-lead authors. All authors contributed to the conception, design, execution, and analysis of the study.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Physicians’ Services Incorporated (PSI) Foundation under grant #R19-26, the Canadian Pediatric Society (no grant number), and the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute (no grant number); Physicians’ Services Incorporated Foundation