Department of Sociology, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1, Canada.
School of Social Transformation, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85281, USA.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Sep 29;19(19):12409. doi: 10.3390/ijerph191912409.
Indigenous Peoples are at an increased risk for infectious disease, including COVID-19, due to the historically embedded deleterious social determinants of health. Furthermore, structural limitations in Canadian federal government data contribute to the lack of comparative rates of COVID-19 between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. To make visible Indigenous Peoples' experiences in the public health discourse in the midst of COVID-19, this paper aims to answer the following interrelated research questions: (1) What are the associations of key social determinants of health and COVID-19 cases among Canadian health regions? and (2) How do these relationships relate to Indigenous communities? As both proximal and distal social determinants of health conjointly contribute to COVID-19 impacts on Indigenous health, this study used a unique dataset assembled from multiple sources to examine the associations among key social determinants of health characteristics and health with a focus on Indigenous Peoples. We highlight key social vulnerabilities that stem from systemic racism and that place Indigenous populations at increased risk for COVID-19. Many Indigenous health issues are rooted in the historical impacts of colonization, and partially invisible due to systemic federal underfunding in Indigenous communities. The Canadian government must invest in collecting accurate, reliable, and disaggregated data on COVID-19 case counts for Indigenous Peoples, as well as in improving Indigenous community infrastructure and services.
由于历史上存在的有害健康社会决定因素,土著人民面临更大的传染病风险,包括 COVID-19。此外,加拿大联邦政府数据的结构性限制导致 COVID-19 在土著人民和非土著人民之间的比较发病率缺乏。为了在 COVID-19 期间使土著人民的经历在公共卫生话语中变得可见,本文旨在回答以下两个相互关联的研究问题:(1) 加拿大卫生区域的主要健康社会决定因素与 COVID-19 病例之间有哪些关联?(2) 这些关系与土著社区有何关系?由于主要健康社会决定因素的近因和远因共同导致 COVID-19 对土著健康的影响,本研究使用了来自多个来源的独特数据集来检验主要健康社会决定因素特征与健康之间的关联,重点是土著人民。我们强调了源于系统性种族主义的关键社会脆弱性,这些脆弱性使土著人口面临更高的 COVID-19 风险。许多土著健康问题源于殖民化的历史影响,由于联邦政府对土著社区的系统资金不足,这些问题在一定程度上是看不见的。加拿大政府必须投资于为土著人民收集 COVID-19 病例计数的准确、可靠和分类数据,并改善土著社区的基础设施和服务。