Keeping the Children Home 

Overview

Keeping the Children Home

Component 1: Mitigating Separation of Inuit Families During Medical Travel from Nunavut to Winnipeg During the Perinatal Period: Bringing the Children Home   

This project examines the health, social, cultural, and financial implications for Inuit families concerning co-occurring confinement for medical care and interaction with the child welfare system. We take the position that families should be able to travel for medical care and return home together without experiencing fear or threat of separation. This project explores: travel and evacuation, child welfare, and perinatal needs of Inuit families in the Kivalliq Region of Nunavut.   

Overview

Bringing Children at Home - Youth

Component 2: Fear, Stress and Bracing for Contact: Travel to Winnipeg for Healthcare by Inuit Youth During the Perinatal Period – Bringing the Children Home   

This project is directly related to, and aims to improve, the health and well-being of Indigenous youth, specifically Inuit youth from the Kivalliq Region in Nunavut. This project seeks to explore the experiences of Inuit youth that are required to travel to Winnipeg to give birth. This population of young people includes those pre-teen, teen, and young adults (30 years and under) in the time before, during and following the time of childbirth (to two years post-birth). 

Goals

This study explores the experiences of youth travelling to give birth and aims to a) explore, prioritize and advance knowledge concerning the sexual and reproductive health and well-being of Inuit youth in Nunavut; b) collaborate with Arctic health researchers, Inuit youth knowledge users, health-policy makers and other key partners, including youth and to enhance interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral approaches to research and knowledge mobilization; and c) build capacity, both in terms of the researcher-career pathway, and the engagement of youth throughout the research process to enhance youth health research. 

Collaborators

Ariane Benoit, Research Centre AREES (Arctic Environement and Societies)  

Judy Clark, Inuit Health Researcher 

Maata Evaluardjuk-Palmer, University of Manitoba

Marlyn Bennett, Associate Professor, Faculty of Social Work and Werklund School of Education, SSHRC Canada Research Chair, Tier II, Indigenous Children’s Wellbeing AND Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Social Work, University of Manitoba 

Tara Collins, University of Calgary, Faculty of Social Work 

Funders: National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation.