A recent study published in the Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health reveals that 28% of Indigenous Peoples in Ontario only go to the dentist when it is an emergency.
Vrati Mehra, a York University graduate student, conducted the study in collaboration with Faculty of Health Professor Hala Tamim. Data was examined from the Canadian Community Health Survey, which includes health data from Canadians across all provinces from 12 years of age and up. A 2017 Auditor General of Canada report was also studied.
The outcomes of the study reveal dental programming in Canada needs to be examined and improved for Indigenous communities.
An article from York University reports that the article “stresses the policy implications of how the social programs that deliver health services to Indigenous Peoples must be routinely assessed and improved to cater to the needs of this population and be better tailored to confront the social determinants – the broad range of personal, social, economic and environmental factors that determine individual and population health – that hinder Indigenous Peoples from using these services.”
Read more about this story from York University.
