Elisabet Breivik, Bente Ervik, Gabriele Kitzmüller
{"title":"Preparing for home death in rural areas - the experience of family caregivers providing palliative cancer care.","authors":"Elisabet Breivik, Bente Ervik, Gabriele Kitzmüller","doi":"10.1080/22423982.2025.2507443","DOIUrl":"10.1080/22423982.2025.2507443","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Palliative care policies worldwide support people's wishes to spend their final days at home with family caregivers playing a vital role. In Norway, 16% of the population lives in rural areas where palliative end-of-life care is especially challenging due to geographical barriers and limited access to healthcare resources. Research on rural family end-of-life care for people with cancer is sparse. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate what resources are needed for rural family caregivers when providing end-of-life care and preparing for home death for a person with cancer. Thirteen semi-structured in-depth interviews with family caregivers in seven rural municipalities in Northern Norway were conducted from February to April 2023. The thematic analysis revealed three key themes supporting caregivers' resilience: end-of-life care and home death require available resources in family caregivers; the availability of reliable professional follow-up services for end-of-life care; support from family and social networks compensate for lacking healthcare resources. Holistic healthcare for rural populations should consider aspects like distance and cost while involving the entire family and their social network. Local palliative care beds and telehealth services should be available to support rural family caregivers.</p>","PeriodicalId":13930,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Circumpolar Health","volume":"84 1","pages":"2507443"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12090319/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144093648","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Building capacity: paediatric vision screening in elementary schools.","authors":"Madeline L Lischynski, Marcella Ogenchuk","doi":"10.1080/22423982.2025.2525621","DOIUrl":"10.1080/22423982.2025.2525621","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>A programme evaluation was conducted of a vision screening programme, in an urban elementary school in Saskatchewan, with 26 kindergarten and grade one students. The vision screening was completed by students in their fourth year of a Bachelor of Science in nursing programme and the teacher for visually impaired students using the Lea Symbol Assessment charts. The elementary students were assessed for both near and distant vision, at 40 cm and 3 m, respectively. Of the 26 students assessed, 42% of kindergarten students and 29% of grade one students required a referral to an optometrist based on the visual acuity standards. Building capacity for a school-based vision screening and referral process requires collaboration across health and education sectors including relationship building with students and families. Recommendations for future practice include capacity building and recognising disparities in Indigenous health and improving access to healthcare resources for Indigenous families.</p>","PeriodicalId":13930,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Circumpolar Health","volume":"84 1","pages":"2525621"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12239782/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144567403","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Liris Smith, Mark Christopher, Cody MacInnis, Janelle Yasay, Kat Secord, Paul Banks, Cindy Breitkreutz, Adam Mackie, Michelle Leach
{"title":"Perspectives of Yukon's frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.","authors":"Liris Smith, Mark Christopher, Cody MacInnis, Janelle Yasay, Kat Secord, Paul Banks, Cindy Breitkreutz, Adam Mackie, Michelle Leach","doi":"10.1080/22423982.2024.2444118","DOIUrl":"10.1080/22423982.2024.2444118","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The perspectives of Yukon's nurses and physicians can determine what might mitigate burnout and strengthen the response to the COVID-19 pandemic and/or future health emergencies. The study was conducted in the Yukon Territory, Canada in two phases: completion of the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI), and in-depth oral interviews. This paper will discuss the results of the interviews. A hybrid thematic analysis of 38 interviews revealed five primary themes: personal impacts; work-related effects; client effects/patient care; perceptions of the territorial response to COVID-19; and recommendations for future pandemics. The loss of social connection and burden of childcare contributed to personal burnout. Stressful work environments, increased workload, limited resources and feeling undervalued contributed to job stress and work-related burnout. Healthcare workers ascribed meaning to their roles in improving community health , which may have mitigated client-related burnout. Systemic change is needed to ensure the healthcare workforce can maintain service delivery and respond to future pandemics. The response to COVID-19 was mounted on the backs of frontline healthcare workers who made personal sacrifices and worked to exhaustion to serve their patients. As the healthcare system and its workforce recover from the pandemic, the calls to support healthcare workers must be answered.</p>","PeriodicalId":13930,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Circumpolar Health","volume":"84 1","pages":"2444118"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11721751/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142948344","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Camille Slack, Tamara Donnelly, Sonia D Wesche, Tiff-Annie Kenny
{"title":"Exploring Indigenous-informed contributions to decision-making to support improved food security in Canada: a scoping review.","authors":"Camille Slack, Tamara Donnelly, Sonia D Wesche, Tiff-Annie Kenny","doi":"10.1080/22423982.2025.2497594","DOIUrl":"10.1080/22423982.2025.2497594","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Indigenous-informed food security initiatives are gaining global recognition for their potential to foster sustainable, community-minded solutions, while centering environmental stewardship, and the preservation of culturally significant foodways. Despite this growing aknowledgement, Indigenous involvement in decision-making related to improved food security in Canada remains underexplored. This review aims to contribute to deepened understandings of how Indigenous inputs are guiding current food security decision-making processes, and how these approaches are being applied in the context of mixed food systems throughout Canada. A systematic search of five online databases was conducted to examine the existing literature on Indigenous-informed food security efforts in Canada, exploring key themes, gaps and recommendations. Yielding a total of 1916 results, 39 of which were retained for further analysis, this search highlighted a broad swath of initiatives, programs, policies and strategies, developed by, in partnership with, or centering the perspectives of Indigenous communities. These existing initiatives frame how Indigenous groups are already guiding food security action in Canada, and what factors need to be considered to ensure on-going effectiveness. Findings highlight the need for more collaborative, cross-sectoral, community-minded food security initiatives, which integrate both support for Indigenous self-determination and recognize the validity of traditional knowledges within decision-making processes at all levels.</p>","PeriodicalId":13930,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Circumpolar Health","volume":"84 1","pages":"2497594"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12128124/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144181324","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Greg Toffner, David Alain Koff, Alexander Drossos, Uranchimeg Tsegmed, Margaret Andrea Baumann
{"title":"A community-based task shifting program in 25 remote indigenous communities in Nunavut, Canada.","authors":"Greg Toffner, David Alain Koff, Alexander Drossos, Uranchimeg Tsegmed, Margaret Andrea Baumann","doi":"10.1080/22423982.2024.2439119","DOIUrl":"10.1080/22423982.2024.2439119","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Task shifting can improve access, availability, efficiency, and quality of health services in under resourced settings. Task shifting can occur formally or informally within health professions, between health professions, between support staff and health professions, or between lay community members and health professionals. There are currently thousands of Indigenous peoples in Canada's high Arctic, living in remote communities, north of the 60<sup>th</sup> parallel with limited access to basic medical services. In Nunavut, 25 remote fly-in communities exist in some of the most sparsely populated and harshest conditions on earth. Diminished access to or absence of basic health services such as diagnostic imaging and staff resources in remote communities can have a detrimental effect on patient care, and health outcomes. The existence of a community based diagnostic x-ray training program using a task shifting model addresses a gap in quality and access to services and subsequent treatment for community residents in this region.</p>","PeriodicalId":13930,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Circumpolar Health","volume":"84 1","pages":"2439119"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11639059/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142817931","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Mylene Ratelle, Breanna Phillipps, Kelly Skinner, Yvonne Lamers, Larisse Melo, Brian Laird, Leon Andrew, Jessie Yakeleya, Alyssa Bougie, Kirsten Jensen, Deborah Simmons
{"title":"Nutrition biomarker assessment and exploration of the role of country foods to improve food security in the Sahtú Region, Canada.","authors":"Mylene Ratelle, Breanna Phillipps, Kelly Skinner, Yvonne Lamers, Larisse Melo, Brian Laird, Leon Andrew, Jessie Yakeleya, Alyssa Bougie, Kirsten Jensen, Deborah Simmons","doi":"10.1080/22423982.2024.2438434","DOIUrl":"10.1080/22423982.2024.2438434","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Country foods (i.e. wild traditional food) are associated with improved nutrition for northern populations. In response to community concerns, a project was implemented from 2019 to 2021 in the Sahtú region, Northwest Territories, Canada, to: 1) analyse nutrition biomarkers (vitamins A, B1, B2, B6, B12, D, E, folate, P, Na) in blood samples, in order to assess nutritional status and identify nutrient deficiencies, and 2) use a survey to document how access to country foods may improve food security in the community of Tulı́t'a. Findings from the nutritional biomarker assessments (n = 128) indicated that 94% of participants experienced clinical vitamin D deficiency (<20 ng/L of plasma 25-hydroxy-vitamin D3) and 9% had folate deficiency (<8.7 nmol/L total folate). In the previous 12 months, 71% of participants did not always have money to get more food when needed, but 92% of participants said they were not left hungry. Country foods were used to increase the quality or quantity of the diet. Increasing country food consumption, such as fatty fish and large game meat and organs could mitigate the vitamin D and folate deficiencies. Policies should be implemented to improve food security in the North by facilitating access to country food.</p>","PeriodicalId":13930,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Circumpolar Health","volume":"84 1","pages":"2438434"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11703025/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142864174","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Barriers and enablers in nursing students` clinical placement in a rural area with an indigenous population, a short communication.","authors":"Nina B Cheetham, Bente Norbye","doi":"10.1080/22423982.2025.2513105","DOIUrl":"10.1080/22423982.2025.2513105","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This article explores the challenges and opportunities for nursing students during clinical placements in rural areas with Indigenous and minority populations, specifically focusing on the Sami and Kven communities in Northern Norway. It highlights the importance of cultural sensitivity and competence in nursing education, as emphasised by the National Framework for Nursing and Health Professional Education. The Arctic Samprax project, utilising an action research approach, aims to develop sustainable practice models that integrate cultural sensitivity into nursing students' learning experiences. The study reveals that explicit supervision and reflective dialogue are crucial for students to understand and address cultural aspects in healthcare. Challenges such as staff shortages, inconsistent supervision, and lack of continuity hinder the learning process. The article emphasises the need for collaboration between educational institutions and rural practice sites to enhance students' cultural competence. Recommendations include developing preparatory programs focusing on the learning outcomes relevant for rural practice placements, as well as increasing practice placements in Indigenous areas. The study underscores the responsibility of educational institutions in circumpolar regions to contribute to inclusive and equitable healthcare services for diverse populations. We suggest a greater focus on cultural humility in the curriculum to align with the ethical guidelines for nurses.</p>","PeriodicalId":13930,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Circumpolar Health","volume":"84 1","pages":"2513105"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12147492/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144233942","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A picture of food security in Ketchikan, Alaska.","authors":"Jessica L Teune, Amanda K Walch","doi":"10.1080/22423982.2025.2506874","DOIUrl":"10.1080/22423982.2025.2506874","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Ketchikan, Alaska is home to 13,754 residents and located on an island, presenting unique challenges of access and availability. Limited published research exists regarding traditional foods or food security in Alaska, and primary research on food security in Ketchikan is nonexistent. This study measured food security and analysed related variables in Ketchikan, Alaska using a retrospective cross-sectional study design. A total of 108 participants completed the surveys, all of whom were residents. Chi-square analyses determined significant associations between food security status and variables in the community. The food insecurity rate of the convenience sample was 49.1%. Facilitators of food security included receiving foods from others, culinary literacy, and adequate money to purchase food. Barriers to food security included the expense of food, government assistance ran out, availability of certain foods in the area, and transportation challenges. The study is the first known primary research measuring prevalence of food insecurity in the region and the corresponding factors that act as facilitators or barriers. These data help inform programme development to tackle key findings from a community needs assessment. Future work should include prevalence of food insecurity, and barriers and facilitators, of a representative sample in the region.</p>","PeriodicalId":13930,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Circumpolar Health","volume":"84 1","pages":"2506874"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12090252/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144101844","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Lisa K Ellison, Carmina Ng, Alethea Kewayosh, Natalie Troke, Brenda Elias, Michael Tjepkema, Angeline Letendre, Loraine D Marrett, Amanda J Sheppard
{"title":"Ancestry or identity? The importance of Indigenous engagement in articulating First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples in the 2006 Canadian Census Health and Environmental Cohort (CanCHEC).","authors":"Lisa K Ellison, Carmina Ng, Alethea Kewayosh, Natalie Troke, Brenda Elias, Michael Tjepkema, Angeline Letendre, Loraine D Marrett, Amanda J Sheppard","doi":"10.1080/22423982.2025.2495378","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/22423982.2025.2495378","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Statistics Canada uses two self-report measures - Ancestry and Identity - in the Canadian Census to identify First Nations, Inuit and Métis (FNIM) peoples. How these measures are employed alone or in combination to assess definitional impact on the reporting of health conditions has not been investigated. To illustrate, we assessed how these measures, alone or in combination, estimate colorectal cancer rates. A working group comprised of Indigenous and non-Indigenous academics assessed the response patterns to the Identity and Ancestry questions in the 2006 Canadian Census Health and Environment Cohort and categorised the responses into groups: A) Identity only; B) Ancestry only; C) any Ancestry or Identity; D) both Ancestry and Identity. We then assessed concordance, and subsequently examined the way these groupings may impact the reporting of colorectal cancer rates (2010-2015). FNIM responses varied across the different combinations of the Ancestry and Identity questions. Concordance for FNIM was 76%, 81%, and 18% respectively for single responses, which impacted the estimation of colorectal cancer rates. To improve health reporting, it is essential that research teams choose the most appropriate definition in partnership with FNIM and urban Indigenous organisations to ensure the right data are analysed to align with community priorities.</p>","PeriodicalId":13930,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Circumpolar Health","volume":"84 1","pages":"2495378"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12024509/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143984927","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Development of water safety risk matrices to improve water safety in Arctic drinking water systems in Nunavut, Canada.","authors":"Elan Chalmers, Caroline Duncan, Stephanie Gora","doi":"10.1080/22423982.2025.2450877","DOIUrl":"10.1080/22423982.2025.2450877","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Safe drinking water is key to individual and community health. Water safety is often evaluated based on whether or not a community's drinking water meets the quality standards specified by a governing authority. These water quality standards address many microbial and chemical water safety risks but may not capture risks that are difficult to quantify or community-specific needs and preferences. Water safety planning, first introduced by the World Health Organization, is a more holistic approach that aims to integrate water system stakeholders, system mapping, hazard identification and matrices to better characterise risk. In this study, we documented previous efforts to apply water WSPs in Arctic jurisdictions and evaluated existing risk scoring systems for potential application to Nunavut, an Arctic territory in Canada. The observations from the evaluation informed the development of a preliminary WSP framework for Nunavut which considers both past frequency and the existing hazard barriers in place when determining the likelihood score.</p>","PeriodicalId":13930,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Circumpolar Health","volume":"84 1","pages":"2450877"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11748980/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143004915","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}