IHACC Research Profiled in Nunatsiaq Online

The IHACC project was recently profiled in a Nunatsiaq Online article by Samantha Dawson. Read the full article on the Nunatsiaq Online website.

Iqaluit project eyes link between tummy troubles-climate change

"We’re expecting to see an increase in contaminated drinking water"

SAMANTHA DAWSON

Climate change, which affects food security, may also lead to an increase in stomach illnesses among Inuit.

That’s according to the “Indigenous Health Adaptation to Climate Change” project.

This project sent researchers in to Iqaluit to conduct 20-minute interviews with Inuit in Iqaluit about what they eat, whether they hunt, and whether they have stomach problems, such as vomiting or diarrhea, which are among symptoms of acute gastrointestinal illness.

To reach more people, interviewers have gone door-to-door to about 500 homes in Iqaluit.

And they also held a char and bannock feast at the Anglican Parish Hall on March 21.

Bacteria, parasites and viruses carried by contaminated water or by person-to-person contact can cause stomach illness, said Sherilee Harper, a lead researcher on the project.

Although the risk factors vary, the research team has identified some specific risk factors in Iqaluit.

While Harper did not offer any specific details about what these are, high rates of stomach illness are found in aboriginal communities in general, and in particularly Inuit communities, she said.

The incentive to start the study in Nunavut was based on interest from “government stakeholders in Iqaluit,” past research from Nunatsiavut, and high rates of stomach illness in the Arctic, she said.

Read the rest of the article here.

IHACC on CBC: "Health survey to look at effect of climate change"

The IHACC Arctic event "Iqaluit Burden of Acute Gastrointestinal Illness Survey Results Sharing Meeting" that took plae on Friday March 22nd. The article includes information about IHACC surveys and research in the Arctic. See below or view the article on the CBC website here.

A survey looking at the impact of climate change on the health of residents of Iqaluit will enter its second phase this spring.

Last fall, surveyors visited more than 500 homes in the city.

Sherilee Harper, with the Indigenous Health Adaptation to Climate Change Project, says the study began in Labrador where they found changes in weather patterns could be linked to stomach illness.

"So [we] kind of expanded that into Iqaluit as well because some people here were also interested in learning about those relationships or potential relationships."

Researchers will start knocking on doors again in May.

The group is working with the Government of Nunavut, the Nunavut Research Institute and Iqaluit Public Health on the project.

People who want more information can attend a char chowder and bannock drop-in at the Parish Hall in Iqaluit on Thursday at 5:30 p.m.

The group plans to share the survey results with the public in June.

SIACC - Salud Indígena y Adaptación al Cambio Climático

Nuevo video en español del proyecto IHACC/SIACC! Véalo aquí en HD.

Balancing Indigenous Principles and Institutional Research Guidelines for Informed Consent: A Case Study from the Peruvian Amazon

Sherman, M., Berrang-Ford, L., Ford, J. et al. (2012). AJOB Primary Research. Find PDF.

Background: Current literature emphasizes the need to implement informed consent according to indigenous principles and worldviews. However, few studies explicitly address how informed consent can be effectively and appropriately obtained in indigenous communities in accordance with research ethics guidelines. Methods: This article uses participatory rural appraisal methods to identify and characterize community preferences for informed consent in two indigenous communities in the Peruvian Amazon, using Canadian federal research regulations and McGill University’s Research Ethics Board as a case study to examine where institutional ethics guidelines constrain or support culturally appropriate notions of informed consent. Results: The study emphasizes the importance of tailoring informed consent procedures to community circumstances. Although both communities in this case study are located in the Peruvian Amazon, there were important distinctions between them, such as gender dynamics and social structure, which profoundly affected informed consent procedures. It is also important to consider the balance of collectivism and individualism at a community level in order to determine the role of individual and community consent. Conclusion: Research ethics guidelines generally allow for this contextualized approach. However, regulations still have the potential to constrain indigenous informed consent due to content requirements for informed consent forms, limited flexibility for modifications in the field, and requirements for individual consent.

Fieldwork in the Peruvian Amazon, in Pictures

Photographs taken by Mya Sherman, a first-year graduate student pursuing an M.A. in Geography during fieldwork in summer 2011 in the Peruvian Amazon. This fieldwork was part of the IHACC research program and used participatory methods to explore how researchers could best work with Shipibo and Shawi ethnic groups in future research collaborations.