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Promoting Inuit health through a participatory whiteboard video

  • Innovations in Policy and Practice
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Abstract

Setting

The Inuit community of Rigolet experiences greater rates of self-reported acute gastrointestinal illness (AGI) compared to southern Canada.

Intervention

A whiteboard video tool was collaboratively developed by Rigolet youth, community members, the research team and key regional stakeholders to share public health recommendations for reducing the risk of AGI. The video debuted in Rigolet at a community event in August 2016 and was later provided online for community members and local and regional health departments. Interviews and focus group discussions were used to evaluate the ability of the video to communicate public health information to community members in Rigolet.

Outcomes

Community and government viewers reported that the whiteboard video was novel and engaging. Evaluation participants believed the video was suitable for promoting Inuit health because of the use of locally relevant visuals and narrative, which reflect Inuit art and storytelling traditions. Furthermore, participants indicated that the video co-development process was critical to ensuring community relevance of the video. Short-term outcome results suggest the video can reinforce health knowledge and potentially encourage behavioural change.

Implications

The results suggest this whiteboard video was an effective tool to share information and could increase intention to change behaviours to reduce the risk of AGI in Rigolet. While tools like the whiteboard video are gaining popularity, the participatory approach was used to develop the video, and its use in an Inuit context illustrates its innovation and novelty. This tool may be a useful health promotion tool among Indigenous communities in Canada.

Résumé

Lieu

Dans le village inuit de Rigolet, les taux de maladie gastrointestinale aiguë (MGA) autodéclarée sont plus élevés que dans le Sud du Canada.

Intervention

Des jeunes et des résidents de Rigolet, notre équipe de recherche et les principaux acteurs régionaux ont créé ensemble une vidéo sur tableau blanc pour diffuser des recommandations de santé publique sur la réduction du risque de MGA. La vidéo a été présentée à Rigolet en août 2016 dans le cadre d’une activité socioculturelle, puis mise en ligne pour les résidents et les services de santé locaux et régionaux. Au moyen d’entretiens et de groupes de discussion, nous avons cherché à déterminer dans quelle mesure cette vidéo permet de communiquer des informations de santé publique aux résidents de Rigolet.

Résultats

Les résidents et les fonctionnaires qui ont visionné la vidéo sur tableau blanc l’ont trouvée innovante et captivante. Selon les participants de l’évaluation, c’est un bon outil de promotion de la santé pour les Inuits parce qu’elle utilise des images et des mots ancrés dans les traditions artistiques et narratives inuites. Les participants ont aussi indiqué que le processus de création concertée a été essentiel à la création d’une vidéo pertinente pour les résidents. Selon les résultats à court terme, cette vidéo peut renforcer les connaissances sur la santé et peut-être encourager la modification des comportements.

Conséquences

Les résultats indiquent que cette vidéo sur tableau blanc est un outil efficace pour diffuser de l’information et qu’elle pourrait accroître les intentions de changer de comportements afin de réduire le risque de MGA à Rigolet. Les outils comme les vidéos sur tableau blanc gagnent en popularité, mais la démarche participative employée pour créer la vidéo, et son utilisation dans un contexte inuit, illustrent son caractère novateur. Ce pourrait être un bon outil de promotion de la santé dans les communautés autochtones du Canada.

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Acknowledgements

A special thank you goes to the community of Rigolet, the youth in Rigolet: Rodney, Alison, Mackenzie, Brittney, Ryan and Brady, the Rigolet Inuit Community Government, and the Nunatsiavut Government for their support and without whom this project would not be possible. Thanks to Nia King for her assistance in hosting community events and collecting data.

Funding

This work received funding from the Nasivvik Centre for Inuit Health and Changing Environments, IDRC, CIHR, SSHRC, NSERC and the Indigenous Health Adaptation to Climate Change project. Personal funding was also provided by the Arthur D. Latornell Scholarship, and the Queen Elizabeth II Graduate Scholarship in Science and Technology (QEII-GSST) Program.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Population Medicine, University of Guelph, 50 Stone Road East, Guelph, ON, N1G 2W1, Canada

    Manpreet Saini, Steven Roche, Andrew Papadopoulos, Charlie Flowers & Sherilee L. Harper

  2. ACER Consulting Ltd., 103A-100 Stone Road West, Guelph, ON, N1G 5L3, Canada

    Steven Roche

  3. C4 Consulting, Vancouver, BC, Canada

    Nicole Markwick

  4. Rigolet Inuit Community Government, Rigolet, NL, A0P 1P0, Canada

    Inez Shiwak

  5. Rigolet, NL, Canada

    Charlie Flowers

  6. Department of Health and Social Development, Nunatsiavut Government, 200 Kelland Drive, Happy Valley-Goose Bay, NL, A0P 1C0, Canada

    Michele Wood

  7. Public Health Agency of Canada, 160 Research Lane, Guelph, ON, N1G 5B2, Canada

    Victoria L. Edge

  8. Priestley International Centre for Climate, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK

    James Ford

  9. School of Public Health at the University of Alberta, 11405 87 Ave.. NW, Edmonton, AB, T6G 1C9, Canada

    Carlee Wright & Sherilee L. Harper

Authors
  1. Manpreet Saini
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  2. Steven Roche
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  5. Inez Shiwak
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  6. Charlie Flowers
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  7. Michele Wood
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  8. Victoria L. Edge
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  9. James Ford
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  10. Carlee Wright
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  11. Sherilee L. Harper
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Consortia

Rigolet Inuit Community Government

Nunatsiavut Government

IHACC Research Team

  • Lea Berrang Ford
  • , Cesar Carcamo
  • , Shuaib Lwasa
  •  & Didacus Namanya

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Manpreet Saini.

Ethics declarations

The project was approved by the Research Ethics Board at the University of Guelph.

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Indigenous Health Adaptation to Climate Change (IHACC) Research Group: Lea Berrang-Ford, Priestley International Centre for Climate, University of Leeds (Leeds, United Kingdom), Cesar Carcamo, School of Public Health and Administration, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia (Lima, Peru), Shuaib Lwasa, Department of Geography, Geoinformatics and Climatic Sciences, Makerere University (Kampala, Uganda), Didacus Namanya, Ugandan Ministry of Health (Kampala, Uganda)

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Saini, M., Roche, S., Papadopoulos, A. et al. Promoting Inuit health through a participatory whiteboard video. Can J Public Health 111, 50–59 (2020). https://doi.org/10.17269/s41997-019-00189-1

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