Teens tackle health issues By ROD LINK CHRISTINA SAM didn’t like what her fellow teen- agers were doing, : Taking drugs and drink- “ing ‘to the point hospitali- zation was required be- cause of alcohol poisoning convinced the 17-year-old something had to be done. ' So the Kitsumkalum re- sident enlisted her life- long friend, Jennifer Coo- ley, ‘also 17, and the two put together a proposal for a three-day prevention and education workshop. It helped that the two worked together this past summer for the health ser- vices office at Kitsumka- lum. “We called it ‘Live for the Future 2002,” Sam said during a lunch break on.day two.of the work- shop held Nov. 25-27 at the -Kitsumkalum com-— munity hall. ~More than 30 young people from Terrace, Kit- sumkalum, Thornhill and -Kitselas attended. The. idea of a health workshop aimed at preven- tion instead of treatment, when put on paper, was accepted for a grant by the Northern Health Authority. “We © apreed = on everything,” Cooley said, referring to the process of putting the proposal toge- ther. - They lined up eight speakers all aimed at the theme of health, education and prevention. Speakers outlined the effects of drinking and . drugs,: sex and sexually transmit- ted diseases and gave in- formation on nutrition. “We took’ on nutrition’ ag breveritibnr aiid Bivens tion'is always chediper!™ than treatment,” rioted Ni- cole Bingham, who runs’ heaith services at Kitsum- , kalum. ~ One of the speakers was a local public health’ nurse, Pat Frank. She was accompanied by two se- nior nursing students from UNBC in Prince George | who are in Terrace on a practicum. Sam and Cooley poin- ted out that the workshop theme of “live for the fu- ture” keys very much on taking personal respons- ibility. Based on last week's experience, the two want. to host the workshop again next year. talked about safe | (uty Diag ? be Hash déby, Cparettec fops — * leyp ke pid thy Plum Gung Gier HG. ha | A a TN Tans - ; Mevhing | KE pa é TAL : Hirsi pHs Pols (ate m Get the message FRIENDS Jennifer Cooley and Christina Sam were concerned about the choices other teens are making when it comes to their health. So they decided to do something about it. Thay organized a workshop at- tended by 30 local teenagers. Topics ranged from drugs and safe sex te better nutrition habits. medicine >, “ Aboriginal health is making steady gains but a significant gap remains, the provincial health officer says in his recent report By JENNIFER LANG DR. PERRY Kendall says the health slatus of B.C.’s aboriginal people re- mains unacceptably low compared to the general population. But the provincial health officer says he’s encouraged by signs of steady improvement on key indica- tors, including mortality rates. Infant mortality, suicide, acciden- tal injuries and death rates among First Nations are all improving at a higher, Tate ithan the" general’ ‘popula- Ylids dal Hara PS UU tb oats be PPRCOHEEH OG If the ‘trend continues, the health of Status Indians will be comparable with other British Columbians in the next 10 years, Kendall says in his recent report, the Health and Well Being of Aboriginal People i in British Columbia. He says the health status of abori- ginal British Columbians has made a huge recovery over the past few de- cades — despite an average standard of living thats 20 per cent below that of other British Columbians. The report, based on two years of research, found the north-south split that divides the health of other B.C. residents is reversed when aboriginal people are considered. Kendall says he was surprised to learn the Vancouver and Simon Fra- ser regions have the poorest aborigi- nal health in the province based on premature death rates, life expec- Broader lessons Certain aspects of traditional northwest culture may offer health benefits, health agency director says tancy, and infant mort- ality. Aboriginal people in the Northwest, the} Peace, Okanagan Si- milkameen and Thomp- son regions have the } highest health status. The correlation be- f; tween education, in- come and employment levels and health status doesn’t seem to be clearly, inked, ‘when it’ comes to “aboriginal po- pulations, he said. While that could be due to problems with data collection or qual- ity, Kendall is inclined to believe that reversal may show how important cultural and political integrity ‘is when it comes to people’s health. Province-wide, Kendall found in- fant mortality rates for Status Indian babies have nearly reached the low tate experienced by the general po- pulation. For babies one month of age and younger, the rate has been the same for both groups for the past decade - a major achievement, Kendall said. Other findings remain troubling. The average life expectancy at birth for Status Indians is just 72.3 years ~ that’s well below the aver- Dr. Perry Kendall 7] age of 80 years enjoyed ';:) by other British Colum- “4 bians. It?s also lower than the 77.7 years for people in the lowest income cate- gory in B.C. Status Indians, on aver- age, also run a higher ‘risk of developing pneu- monia, HIV and AIDS, and diabetes. Aboriginal health is im- 4 and stroke, respiratory health related areas like housing quality and high school graduation rates. Seven indicators looked at in the report showed no improvement, in- cluding the number of youths in the justice system and lung cancer rates. Three areas of aboriginal impro- vement are getting worse; the num- ber of HIV and AIDS deaths; the number of children in government care and the amount of alcohol-rela- ted deaths. Kendall’s suggestions include making formal commitments to clos- ‘ing the health gap, improving the standard .of living for aboriginal people, working towards more auto- noemy and representation and taking a mote holistic approach to health. proving in,20 areas, ‘in- cluding heart. disease disease and for non- . The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, December 04, 2002 - A5 Are treaties good for you? That may be one explanation behind higher health status By JENNIFER LANG THE northwest is number one when it comes to several key measures of aboriginal health and well-being, ac- cording to the provincial health officer’s new report. The question is, why? “Why are we the best overall? | think that deserves some investigating,” said Dr. Isaac Sobol, the region's chief medical health officer. One explanation may be that First Nations people liv- ing in the northwest remain in better contact with their cultures and may be less marginalized than their counterparts in other parts of B.C. — particularly the Lower Mainland. “Ts it because they have more use of their aboriginal foods and culture?” won- dered Sobol, who is the for- met medical health officer for the Nisga’a Valley Health Board. “I don’t think there are any answers to tell us why,” he said, referring to the report. “But that would make a great research paper!” Certain theories spring to mind. For instance, First Nations communities in the north- west have a greater degree of control over factors that determine health status and well-being. The region is home to B.C.’s first modern-day treaty ~ the Nisga’a treaty — and some First Nations administer locai health services and other social programs. “It looks to me that having control means something,” Sobol said. “I wouldn’t have thought the correlation would be that strikingly dramatic.” For example, Sobol pointed out suicide rates are much lower in aboriginal communities that have what the report describes as “protective factors”. Those include contro! over health care services, edu- cation, and police and fire, services, the presence of cul- tural facilities and progress towards self government and land claims. Communities without those factors can have a suicide rate that’s as high as 31.8 per 100,000 people, Sobol said. It’s an interesting correlation, but Sobol cautions against drawing conclusions. “It’s the chicken and the egg,” Sobol said. “You need. a healthy, community to do these things and being en- gaged in all of those things creates a healthy commun- ity.” While The Heaith and Well-Being of Aboriginal People in British Columbia report shows HIV and AIDS rates — among the region’s aboriginals remains low compared ta Isaac Sobol other ;parts iof hg ‘province, Sobol -wonders if; ‘thats ibo- , CAUSE, theye’ sa lower rate, of infection, here. oT, if, itf . be- cause ‘people with infections move away. | “We’re still talking about very small numbers in the northwest that are officially reported.” The northwest has the second lowest rate of deaths attributable to smoking and alcohol-related deaths. It also has the lowest rate of deaths due to injury and the lowest mortality rate per 10,000 for Status Indians. “There are some very good things here,” Sobol said. The health gap between aboriginal people and the general population is smaller in the northwest than in other regions, too. At birth, aboriginal people in the northwest can expect to live 76 years. It’s just 63 years for aboriginal people in the Simon Fraser region in the Lower Mainland. We may be number one, but Sobol warned against taking the statistics contained in the report to heart. “This tells you if people are hurt or dying,” he said. The report doesn’t look at education rates, levels of income, the impact of the residential school system and other so- cial factors affecting people in their daily lives. “The quality of life could be considerably worse for northern aboriginal people” than for the general popula- tion, he said. By SHAUNEE POINTE - A RECENT report on the state of aboriginal health in B.C. brings some remarkably good news: The health of most of B.C.’s aborigi- . nal people is improving. "Tn fact, ag detailed by the Provincial Health Officer, the overall situation is so positive that “with a. concerted effort, aboriginal health could “be. made comparable to that of the general popu- _ lation within the next decade. Aboriginal life expectancy, infant mortality, ~ potential years of life lost and the overall mortal- ~~ ity. rate show that conditions are improving for - the aboriginal population. “The data show that aver the past few de- _-cades, there has been a huge recovery in the “health slatus of aboriginal people,” Dr. Kendall “wrote in his recent report. “For infant mortality, unintentional injuries, suicide and most other “major causes of- death, death rates are improving _~ Steadily; often at a rate of improvement that ex- “ceeds. the provincial average... This improvement has: occurred in spite of having only 80 per cent fof the standard of living enjoyed by other British “Columbians.” “Good hews indeed. A very good start. “ Bul there's something else going on here. The {data also suggest to me that some aspects of the raditional culture and healing of northwest coast ribal groups may play a significant role in this uecess.. “Indeed, Dr. Kendall said the improvements re- flect: the..“extracrdinary resilience”. of native 2 people, a cultural.and political resurgence and. ‘ he ef effect: of f targeted health ‘programs and ser-. program, managed by the First Nations Chiefs’ Health Committee, which is specifically tailored for aboriginal people living on the back roads and in isolated coastal inlets. Of particular interest is the finding that abori- ginal people living here and in other narth- western regions are among the healthiest in the province. That confirms our reality, too. Visiting many isolaied communities through- out the northwest with our-Mobile Diabetes Cli- nic, we have seen for ourselves the relative resi- liency:‘of the Nisga’a, the Gitksan, the Haisla and many. cthers who appear, on average, health- ier than those living in or closer to big cities. While there is little quantifiable daia at pre- sent, it is our observation that these tribal groups are more cohesive, have a higher standard of liv- ing, better access to education and well-paying jobs — all documented pre-conditions for better health, It may also be an altachment to the land that explains why status Indians living in the north- west demonstrate higher levels of health, based on life expectancy, overall mortality and prema- ture deaths. . While there may be.a host of other factors in- volved, health rates appear better among people living closer to the land and worse among those - living in or near big cities. Here in the Pacific northwest it may be that ‘aboriginal people do not, on average, eat as much fast or processed food as others living else- where. It may be. that people living here still eat a. more traditional diet, based 0 on fishing, hunting » and trapping, This highlights the current resurgence of .inter- SHAUNEE POINTE says tha health of a community is tied to iocal control and cultural con- tinulty, a notian that holds promise for improving the health status of all Canadians. est in traditional healing practices, rooted in aboriginal communities with a shared social life. Aboriginal peoples here, like indigenous po- pulations in other parts of the world, have, over the past 150 years, experienced profound disrup- tion and alteration of their traditional life. But many northwest aboriginal groups resisted. And survived. Retaining a history of what was once sieetingly dismissed as “Indian medicine.” No more. Today, we know the health of any community is directly linked to its sense of local control and cultural continuity. Recent successes in negotiating .land claims and local government, along with forms of cul- tural renewal, hold out hope for improvements in health status, Not just for aboriginal peoples - but for all Canadians trying to make sense of a health care system in deep crisis. Issues of equity in health and well being for - Canada’s aboriginal peoples are important to any — vision of a just society. More research on traditional aboriginal heal- ing has important implications for health service delivery, for mental health promotion, and for medical practice in general. _In the wake of Mz, Romanow’s report on the perilous state of our national health care, 1 sug- gest this is a good time to revisit aspects of ira- ditional aboriginal healing. Marrying the-wisdom of aboriginal healing with modern medical science migh! just point the way to a nore effective, more cost-efficient way to deliver health services. to aboriginal people. A challenge, indeed. But the potential upside should not be ignored. Shaunee Pointe is Executive Director of the First Nations Chiefs’ Health Committee, an agency that delivers front line health services to aboriginal communities in the northwest. ;