Event Title
Poster Introductions III--Predicting Vulnerability: Pandemic H1N1/09 and Canada’s First Nations
Start Date
15-10-2009 5:15 PM
End Date
15-10-2009 5:30 PM
Description
The World Health Organization has estimated that as many as 2 billion or between 15 and 45 percent of the population globally will be infected by pandemic H1N1/09. Certain subgroups have been categorized as high risk given the clinical evidence to date. One of these subgroups is Indigenous populations as they experience poor socioeconomic conditions. There is, however, great variability in socioeconomic conditions across First Nations communities in Canada. Rooted in the social determinants of health, we have developed a model to predict vulnerability and institute relevant measures to mitigate the effects of pandemic H1N1/09 in First Nations communities. The case of St. Theresa Point and Garden Hill, both remote First Nations communities in Northern Manitoba, where the first major outbreaks in Canada occurred provide empirical support for the model.
Nicholas Spence holds a PhD in sociology from the University of Western Ontario. He has worked in Ottawa for the federal government, and he is currently an Adjunct Professor at the University of Western Ontario, affiliated with the department of sociology and the department of health sciences. Nicholas is also Associate Director of the Aboriginal Policy Research Consortium (International), housed at the University of Western Ontario. His research expertise includes inequality/stratification, health, education/labor markets, and statistics and quantitative research methods.
Included in
Poster Introductions III--Predicting Vulnerability: Pandemic H1N1/09 and Canada’s First Nations
The World Health Organization has estimated that as many as 2 billion or between 15 and 45 percent of the population globally will be infected by pandemic H1N1/09. Certain subgroups have been categorized as high risk given the clinical evidence to date. One of these subgroups is Indigenous populations as they experience poor socioeconomic conditions. There is, however, great variability in socioeconomic conditions across First Nations communities in Canada. Rooted in the social determinants of health, we have developed a model to predict vulnerability and institute relevant measures to mitigate the effects of pandemic H1N1/09 in First Nations communities. The case of St. Theresa Point and Garden Hill, both remote First Nations communities in Northern Manitoba, where the first major outbreaks in Canada occurred provide empirical support for the model.
Nicholas Spence holds a PhD in sociology from the University of Western Ontario. He has worked in Ottawa for the federal government, and he is currently an Adjunct Professor at the University of Western Ontario, affiliated with the department of sociology and the department of health sciences. Nicholas is also Associate Director of the Aboriginal Policy Research Consortium (International), housed at the University of Western Ontario. His research expertise includes inequality/stratification, health, education/labor markets, and statistics and quantitative research methods.