Introductory Comments
May 26, 2014
Dianne Kinnon
Health Advisor
Inuit Circumpolar Council – Canada
Inuit Circumpolar Council
Evidence-Base for Promoting Mental
Wellness and Resilience to Address
Suicide in Circumpolar Communities
Circumpolar Inuit
Inuit Circumpolar Council
160,000 Inuit live in the Arctic spread across Greenland, Canada,
Alaska (US) and Chukotka (Russia). The Inuit Circumpolar Council
advocates for Inuit rights internationally.
ICC Canada
ICC General Assembly
Nuuk, Greenland, 2010
Inuit Circumpolar Council
• Lead on health issues for ICC
• Established a Circumpolar Inuit Health Steering
Committee
• Upcoming chair of ICC International – July 2014
• Permanent Participant on the Arctic Council
• Co-chair of the Sustainable Development Working
Group and the Arctic Human Health Expert Group
• Co-lead and Steering
Committee member for
this project
2009 Circumpolar Inuit
Health Summit
– substance abuse, particularly alcohol and drugs
– suicide
– mental health
• Most health issues are symptoms of deeper
problems:
– Loss of traditional values and traditional knowledge
– Assimilation policies
– Forced settlement
Circumpolar Inuit Health Summit
Yellowknife, NT, July 2009
Inuit Circumpolar Council
• Top three issues common to all countries:
Objective: Improve Inuit health and wellness
across the Arctic
Goal 1
Goal 2
Goal 3
Goal 4
Goal 5
Influence
international,
regional &
national
policies
Improve
awareness of
Inuit health &
wellness
Encourage
greater focus
by
international
organizations
Support better
understanding
by health
professionals
Promote
research to
improve Inuit
health
Inuit Circumpolar Council
Circumpolar Inuit Health Strategy
2010-2014
Suicide: Personal Tragedy
and Social Disaster
Dramatic increase in last two generations
Young ages – getting younger?
An extreme indicator of ill-health
In Nunavut, Canada with population of 36,000 (85%
Inuit):
– 120 recorded suicides from 2003 to 2006 *
– Average of 30 per year in 25 communities
• Along with children in care and climate change, this
generations’ trauma
* Learning from Lives that Have been Lived, Chachamovich et al., 2013
Inuit Circumpolar Council
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Prevalence has
Far-Reaching Effects
– 48% adults (1 in 2) reported they had thought seriously
about or attempted suicide in their lifetime
– 14% or 1 in 7 in the last 12 months
• Speaks to the level of despair
• These are today’s parents and grandparents
Inuit Circumpolar Council
• From the Nunavut Inuit Health Survey 2007-08:
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Paying attention to each other’s needs
Focusing on helping others
Doing something productive, active and healthy
Talking things out
Solving conflicts with others
Accepting that life is not always easy but that
tomorrow can be better
Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami website, research with elders
How can our project be grounded in
Indigenous knowledge?
Inuit Circumpolar Council
Indigenous Knowledge:
Coping Skills in Inuit Culture
What Difference Can We Make?
Engage our brains and our spirits
Make a commitment to stretching ourselves
We are the learners not the teachers
We need to dig deeper – what works in the
Indigenous cultural context of Circumpolar
communities?
World Suicide Prevention Day,
Ottawa, Canada, 2009
Inuit Circumpolar Council
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We need to Dig Deeper
Alianait Inuit Mental Wellness Action Plan, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, 2007
• When does prevention work? Who does it work for?
• How do we know?
Inuit Circumpolar Council
• Where does this project fit in the continuum of
mental health in Arctic communities?
We Matter
You matter
We matter
Let’s make sure this project matters
Inuit Circumpolar Council
Elder Ruby Arna’naaq,
Baker Lake, Nunavut,
and Ottawa, Ontario
Qujannamiik!
Leanna Ellsworth, Ottawa, Canada
[email protected]
613-563-2642
Inuit Circumpolar Council
Dianne Kinnon, Ottawa, Canada
[email protected]
613-491-2621