Abstract
In the field of Arctic health, “resilience” is a concept used to describe the capacity to recover from adversities. The term is widely used in Arctic policy contexts; however, Arctic peoples and communities question whether “resilience” is an appropriate term to describe the human dimensions of health and well-being in the Arctic as it is currently applied. A scoping review of peer-reviewed and gray literature was conducted. We used searchable databases, Google Scholar, and Dartmouth College Library Services, to select studies conducted between 2000 and 2019 and key documents from the Arctic Council and other relevant organization and government entities. A scoping review framework was followed, and consultation among the authors provided initial scope, direction, and verification of findings. Analyses identified over- and underrepresented key thematic areas in the literature on human resilience in Arctic communities. Areas of overrepresentation in the literature included ecosystem, climate change, and environmental sciences. Areas that were underrepresented in the literature included health, medicine, wellness or well-being, and community voices on the topic of human resilience. Results indicated that “resilience” as a concept was applied across a diversity of contexts and subject areas in the Arctic and that this may have repercussions for understanding the human dimension of “resilience” and community expressions of well-being. Alternative terms and concepts with which Northern community members more closely identify could be used to more respectfully and accurately advance research in areas such as epidemiology, community health and well-being, and particularly Indigenous peoples’ health.
Highlights
A diversity of challenges exist in achieving good health and well-being around the Arctic, driven by differing interacting determinants (Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program, 2015)
Arctic peoples face a number of challenging circumstances when it comes to achieving good health including but not limited to the lack of access to services and culturally appropriate care (Marchildon and Torgerson, 2013; Redvers et al, 2019), understaffed health centers (Ferguson, 2017), a transient workforce of health professionals (Cherba et al, 2019; Abelsen et al, 2020), serious issues related to mental wellness and addictions (Young et al, 2015; Gray et al, 2016; Healey Akearok et al, 2018; Nelson et al, 2018), historical trauma and acculturation (Hamalainen et al, 2018), and geographically and politically isolated communities (Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, 1996; Cameron, 2012; Sinevaara-Niskanen, 2015; Sakakibara, 2017)
While the term is widely used in Arctic policy contexts (Arctic Council, 2013; Sustainable Development Working Group, 2015; Arctic Council, 2016; Hueffer et al, 2019), Circumpolar communities have questioned whether “resilience” is an appropriate term to describe the human dimensions of health and well-being in the Arctic (Healey Akearok et al, 2019)
Summary
A diversity of challenges exist in achieving good health and well-being around the Arctic, driven by differing interacting determinants (Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program, 2015). Cueva et al: A scoping review on the use of the term “resilience” in Arctic health there are tremendous strengths in communities to address local health concerns, such as a willingness to work together, traditions and customs that support healthy lifestyles and activities, and strong cultural pride (Annahatak, 2009; Redvers, 2016; Mearns, 2017; Lys, 2018). As scholars in the 2018–2019 Fulbright Arctic Initiative Cohort II (FAI II), we have repeatedly encountered tension with the term “resilience” in the communities where we live and work and decided to conduct this scoping review to explore the written literature on the history of the term, as well as its use and reactions to it, in the Circumpolar North. While the term is widely used in Arctic policy contexts (Arctic Council, 2013; Sustainable Development Working Group, 2015; Arctic Council, 2016; Hueffer et al, 2019), Circumpolar communities have questioned whether “resilience” is an appropriate term to describe the human dimensions of health and well-being in the Arctic (Healey Akearok et al, 2019)
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