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. 2024 Dec 24;22(1):1.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph22010001.

A Scoping Review of the Current Knowledge of the Social Determinants of Health and Infectious Diseases (Specifically COVID-19, Tuberculosis, and H1N1 Influenza) in Canadian Arctic Indigenous Communities

Fariba Kolahdooz  1 , Se Lim Jang  1 , Sarah Deck  1 , David Ilkiw  1 , Gertrude Omoro  1 , Arja Rautio  2 , Sami Pirkola  3 , Helle Møller  4 , Gary Ferguson  5 , Birgitta Evengård  6 , Lianne Mantla-Look  7 , Debbie DeLancey  8 , André Corriveau  9 , Stephanie Irlbacher-Fox  7 , Adrian Wagg  10 , Cindy Roache  1 , Katherine Rittenbach  11 , Henry J Conter  12 , Ryan Falk  13 , Sangita Sharma  1
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A Scoping Review of the Current Knowledge of the Social Determinants of Health and Infectious Diseases (Specifically COVID-19, Tuberculosis, and H1N1 Influenza) in Canadian Arctic Indigenous Communities

Fariba Kolahdooz et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Social determinants of health (SDHs) and the impact of colonization can make Canadian Arctic Indigenous communities susceptible to infectious diseases, including the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This scoping review followed the PRISMA guidelines for scoping reviews and studied what is known about selected pandemics (COVID-19, tuberculosis, and H1N1 influenza) and SDHs (healthcare accessibility, food insecurity, mental health, cultural continuity, housing, community infrastructure, and socioeconomic status (SES)) for Canadian Arctic Indigenous communities. Original studies published in English and French up to October 2024 were located in databases (PubMed, Medline, and CINAHL), AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples, and through reference tracking. We included 118 studies: 6 relating to COVID-19, 5 to influenza, 5 to TB, 27 to food insecurity, 26 to healthcare access, 22 to mental health, 9 to SES, 8 to housing, 7 to cultural continuity, and 3 to community infrastructure. SDHs affecting Indigenous individuals include food insecurity, limited healthcare access, mental health challenges, low SES, suboptimal housing, and limited cultural continuity. These findings are relevant to other Arctic regions. It is crucial to understand how SDHs impact the health of Arctic communities and to utilize this information to inform policy and practice decisions for pandemic prevention, management, and treatment. Many SDHs pose challenges for preventing and managing infectious diseases.

Keywords: COVID-19; Canadian Arctic; Indigenous; infectious diseases; pandemic; social determinants of health.

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Conflict of interest statement

Henry J. Conter is employed by Hoffman-La Roche Limited, an organization that provide grant funding in support of this research. However, Hoffman-La Roche Limited did not play a role in the study design; in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; or in the decision to submit the article for publication. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
PRISMA flow diagram: selection of sources of evidence.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Summary of thematic analysis of selected studies about SDHs in Canadian Arctic Indigenous communities.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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