Youth perspectives on community health in Nunavik: a community-engaged photovoice project

Objective The overall objective of this study was to elicit understandings of community health among Inuit youth aged 12-18 in the region of Nunavik, northern Quebec, through identifying community conditions supporting health from their perspective and exploring how they conceptualize a healthy community. Methods In January and February 2020, 51 secondary students from three communities participated in a 1-week participatory photovoice activity during regular class time. Youth participated in three different sessions dedicated to the ethics of taking photographs, taking photos in the community, and group discussions of photographs. Discussions were analyzed via thematic analysis and validated with the youth in the fall of 2020. Results Twelve key community conditions supporting health were identified: family, food, culture, language, sense of community belonging, land, housing, services, community, connection, caring and somewhere to go. The youth understood a healthy community to be a place where nothing was broken and where community conditions supporting health could be visualized like the rocks in an inuksuk, a stone cairn used by Inuit for wayfinding on the tundra landscape. Participants chose the human form of inuksuk which has become widespread in northern and southern Canadian popular culture. Conclusion Findings from this study serve to confirm and strengthen existing models of Inuit health while also raising fresh perspectives and concepts relevant to the younger generation. Images and words of the youth identified in this study may be important in designing effective health promotion strategies that are accessible and relevant to younger generations, thus responding to an important research, programmatic and policy gap.

Automated summary

This study aimed to understand the perceptions of Inuit youth aged 12-18 in the Nunavik region of northern Quebec regarding community health, by identifying community conditions that support health and exploring their conceptualization of a healthy community. Through a participatory photovoice activity, twelve key community conditions were identified, and the youth viewed a healthy community as an intact and unbroken place, visualized through the analogy of an inuksuk used for wayfinding. The findings confirm and strengthen existing models of Inuit health, while offering fresh perspectives and concepts relevant to the younger generation.