A Review of Aboriginal Women’s Physical and Mental Health Status in Ontario

Abstract

In traditional Aboriginal* cultures, women are the givers of life, and this role is highly respected. Unfortunately, today many Aboriginal women face greater health risks than women in the general population. 1 The following presents a review of Aboriginal women’s health status in Ontario, with particular focus on causes of mortality and morbidity; namely the incidence and prevalence of heart disease, diabetes, suicide, cancer, depression, substance use, and family violence in comparison to women of Ontario more generally. The data presented here have been compiled from health status data regarding urban and community Aboriginal women in Ontario; and when these are not available, national data are presented. The literature on American Indians in the United States is not reviewed. The Ontario First Nations Regional Health Survey 2 (OFNRHS) presents representative data from Ontario First Nation (FN) women and children living in Aboriginal communities across the province. These rates were compared with those of Ontario respondents in general from the National Population Health Survey 3 (NPHS). Statistics Canada has limited census data on Aboriginal women living in urban environments. The Aboriginal Peoples Survey (APS 4 ) and the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples Report (RCAP 5 ) also present some national data, but without comparison groups. The Ontario Federation of Indian Friendship Centres 6 has recently published data on the health status of urban Aboriginal girls in Ontario. These data sources are reviewed, along with relevant published articles from the literature in the past twenty years (Medline, PsychInfo). Search terms included “Native”, “Aboriginal”, “First Nation”, “Inuit”, “Metis”, and “Indian” with the health terms as included within the scope of this review. A few cautionary notes should be heeded. The definition of Aboriginal status is not unambiguous. Minimal data currently exist concerning Metis and Inuit women in Ontario. The prevalence estimates may not be representative provincially owing to differing operational definitions and data collection methods. Moreover, FN communities have not been well represented in major Canadian longitudinal surveys. In 2000, the Registered Aboriginal population in Ontario was 153,946, 51.6% of whom were female. 7 This represents the largest provincial proportion of Canada’s total Aboriginal population, and 1.3% of Ontario’s total population. 1 Although data are not available for Ontario, 72.4% of Aboriginal women in Canada live in areas other than FN communities. 1 Figure 1 portrays the Ontario and Aboriginal female population demo