Aging, Health and Place from the Perspective of Elders in an Inuit Community
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Aging, Health and Place from the Perspective of Elders in an Inuit Community Marie Baron 1,2 & Christopher Fletcher 3 & Mylène Riva 4 Published online: 15 May 2020 # Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract
This paper explores perspectives of Inuit elders on the relationships between aging, health and place. Their views are important to consider in the context of a growing proportion and number of older people in Arctic communities, a new sociological condition. Developing policies and programs to promote healthy aging in Inuit communities is challenging as there is little known about the social and living conditions that promote healthy aging in the Arctic. In this study twenty Inuit aged between 50 to 86, from one community in Nunavut, participated to in-depth qualitative interviews. Themes discussed included aging and health, housing conditions, community conditions, land-based activities, medical and leisure travel outside of the community, and mobility and accessibility. Preliminary analyses of the qualitative data were validated in the community through a focus group with four participants and an interpreter. Interviews and the focus group transcripts were analysed using thematic content analyses and NVivo 12 qualitative data analysis program (QSR International Pty Ltd. 2017). Participants reported that spending time with children, having social support, living in houses adapted to aging health conditions, having access to community activities and services, and time spent on the land were the main resources supporting their health. Several factors limited the availability of these resources. These include: lack of accessibility to resources; structural factors impacting their availability; and natural and social changes in interpersonal relationships. Participants also stressed the importance of being able to grow old in their own community. Knowledge generated in this project contributes to policies and programs targeting housing and community conditions to support healthy aging, and aging in place, in Inuit Nunangat. Keywords Aging-in-place . Agingresearch . CanadianInuit . Healthyaging . Indigenous research . Social determinants of health
* Marie Baron [email protected] Extended author information available on the last page of the article
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Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology (2020) 35:133–153
Introduction Older adults constitute a relatively small, but rapidly growing, segment of the Indigenous population (First Nations, Inuit, and Métis) in Canada (Statistics Canada 2017a). In 2006, 4.8% of the Indigenous population was 65 years and older. By 2016, the proportion had risen to 7.3%. Among Inuit, the proportion of those aged 65 and older only increased by 1% between 2006 and 2016. However, the proportion of Inuit aged between 45 and 64 years increased from 13% to 17%, foretelling the emergence of an aging part of the population (Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami 2008, 2018). While the aging of the population is a recent phenomenon, there have always been aged people
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