NetNewsLedger – Participants were selected using respondent-driven sampling, a statistical method that uses social networks to recruit Indigenous people living in the city.

Data released from the survey focused on Indigenous adults’ and children’s experiences with the health care system in Thunder Bay show communities deeply rooted in their cultural traditions and identities, while facing several systemic barriers that adversely impact their health and wellbeing. “Specifically, the results of the Our Health Counts Thunder Bay study highlight the gap in access to culturally safe care for Indigenous peoples within public health, primary health, mental health, acute and long-term care. These results clarify the overall healthcare priorities of Indigenous people and specifically the need for Aboriginal Health Access Centres (AHAC) and centres of excellence in diabetes and mental health.

The survey found that the size of the Indigenous population in the Thunder Bay Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) is far larger than the previous figures released by Census Canada. The survey results summarized in a set fact sheets, calculated the size of the FNIM (First Nations, Métis, Inuit) adult population of Thunder Bay to be 29,778 (estimated range is 23,080-42,641).
These survey number are more than three times higher than the FNIM population size estimate of 9,780 reported by the 2016 census, which most FNIM in Thunder Bay reported they did not complete.

The survey also captured FNIM communities’ challenges with access to health care and institutionalized racism.

• Fifty per cent of adults surveyed in Thunder Bay have a primary care practitioner, compared to 90 per cent of adults in Ontario.
• Almost half of the adults surveyed reported accessing emergency care in the past 12 months, compared to only 19 per cent of Ontarians.
• Over two-thirds of participants reported experiencing racism.
• One in three adults reported that they were treated unfairly by health care professionals because of their Indigenous identity.

The survey was co-led by Well Living House, an Indigenous health research unit at St. Michael’s Hospital, and Anishnawbe Mushkiki Aboriginal Health Access Centre.

The “Our Health Counts Thunder Bay” report presents detailed findings in the following categoroies:

• Demographics
• Access to Health Care Services
• Culture and Identity
• Criminal Justice
• Mental Health
• Discrimination
• Diabetes
• Chronic Health Conditions

http://www.welllivinghouse.com/what-we-do/projects/our-health-counts-thunder-bay/