Impacts of colonialism, residential schools, relocations, dog slaughter.
Social inequities including crowded housing, food insecurity, lack of access to services.
Intergenerational trauma, family violence, family history of suicide.
Experiencing acute or toxic stress in the womb, witnessing or experiencing physical or sexual abuse.
Depression, substance misuse, mental health disorder, self-harm.
Recent loss, intoxication, access to means, hopelessness, isolation.
This base level of risk can multiply through stress factors related to social inequity such as poverty and poor education.
Personal experiences, including physical or sexual abuse, can further multiply a person’s overall risk for suicide.
Exposure is a risk factor. Knowing people who have died by suicide can add to a person’s overall risk.
Having high rates of suicide in our communities means that it touches every community member, creating an underlying risk that affects all Inuit.
Creating equitable economic, education, health, and other resources, will relieve some major stressors and improve suicide risk.
Instilling a strong and grounded sense of Inuit culture, history, and language through networks of support can reduce the risk of suicide.
Providing a safe, nurturing, and predictable environment for children is one of the most significant factors to protect against suicide risk.
Accessible, Inuit-specific mental health services that provide support and identify individual needs can help address suicide before risks multiply.
Providing individuals with access to social supports and resources that help them regulate and cope with distress helps protect against suicide.
Providing children with safe environments that nurture social and emotional development will protect against other adversities.
Adequate economic, educational, health and other resources that support and foster resilience
Strongly grounded in Inuit language, culture and history
Providing children with safe environments that nurture social and emotional development
Access to Inuit-specific mental health services and supports
Ability to regulate and cope with distress, access to social supports and resources
Safe, supportive and nurturing homes
Getting Started with Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning is a means to achieve self-determination in Inuit program design and evaluation. The more Inuit take charge of monitoring and evaluation activities, the more monitoring and evaluation will serve our interests across Inuit Nunangat.
This report presents findings from an environmental scan that was undertaken to gather information around the following six topic areas.
Tel: 1 (877) 686-2845
Link: https://nrbhss.ca/sites/default/files/Mental_Health_Week_EN.pdf
If you live in Nunavik, you can contact your Community CLSC: 819-XXX-9090 in Inuktitut, English and French. Traditional Health Support workers are available from Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and you can speak to someone in Inuktitut or English by calling 1 (877) 686-2845.
Tel: 1-855-242-3310
Link: https://www.hopeforwellness.ca/
The Hope for Wellness Help Line is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It offers immediate mental health counselling and crisis intervention to all Indigenous peoples across Canada. Phone and chat counselling is available in English and French. On request, phone counselling is also available in Inuktitut.
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Social Determinants of Inuit Health
The circumstances in which people are born, grow, work, live, and age, are known as the social determinants of health. These factors have a large impact on our overall well-being and play a critical role in suicide prevention. Social determinants of health can vary from one culture and society to another. The social determinants of Inuit health include:
Clear evidence links social disadvantage, such as living in poverty and not getting enough to eat, to higher rates of suicide. Addressing these underlying causes of social inequity, are necessary to prevent suicide and will also improve many other areas of Inuit life.