Grant: Project Grant

Nunavik is the Inuit homeland currently situated in the province of Quebec. In 2023, Nunavik recorded its highest number of tuberculosis diagnoses in the 21st century. From 2021 to 2023, our team's Inuit and First Nations researchers interviewed Nunavik Inuit (Nunavimmiut) in five villages as part of a CIHR-funded project to understand how they and their communities have been affected by TB and related health services. While responses were diverse, it was clear that getting diagnosed and treated for TB were sources of hardship for some. Due to the lack of Nunavimmiut voices and worldviews in decision-making over health services, TB care is not focused on meeting patient or community needs. Our project is undertaken in partnership with Nunavimmiut communities and seeks to improve TB care by increasing Inuit control, oversight, and participation. In order to enact policy changes, community representatives will come together to enshrine their expectations, demands, and aspirations related to TB in a regional declaration. This part of our work uses Parnasimautik, an Inuit approach to community consultation. A declaration will formalize and strengthen the role of Inuit in making TB policy. It will also make sure that health services for TB are more accountable and responsive. A vision for what TB care should look like in Nunavik will guide policy and resourcing decisions towards alignment with Inuit needs and aspirations. In addition to enacting policy changes through the declaration, our team will support community-led improvement and evaluation of clinical TB care in the field. We will do so by supporting communities as they reshape TB screening, and also treatment of sleeping (latent) TB, to better fit their needs. We will also assist communities as they put in place ways to help people who are struggling to take TB treatment through support based on Nunavik Inuit traditions and ways.