Cree Health Survey 2003, Canadian Community Health Survey, Cycle 2.1, Iiyiyiu Aschii: Survey methods

This publication presents the findings of a health survey carried out in 2003 among households of Iiyiyiu Aschii1. A similar survey had been undertaken in the region by Santé Québec in 1991 (Santé Québec, 1994). Ten years later, the Public Health Department of the Cree Board of Health and Social Services of James Bay (CBHSSJB) urgently required a new picture of its population’s state of health. The purpose of the 2003 survey was to gather up-to-date information on the region’s main health problems and related factors in order to improve the planning, administration, and evaluation of various social and health programs.

According to the 2001 Public Health Act (Loi sur la santé publique), Quebec’s public health departments must periodically assess the health of their respective populations. Since 2000-2001, the province’s sociosanitary regions – with the exception of Iiyiyiu Aschii and Nunavik – have participated in the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) conducted by Statistics Canada.

In 2003 the Public Health Department of Iiyiyiu Aschii decided to take part in this vast project, which was already under way across Canada, and initiated a CCHStype survey on its own territory (Statistics Canada, 2003). Because the CBHSSJB Public Health Department is connected to the network of Quebec’s Department of Health and Social Services (Ministère de la santé et des services sociaux, MSSS), it was able to enlist the expert assistance of the Institut national de santé publique du Québec (INSPQ) in coordinating the analysis of the results. Professionals drawn from Quebec’s health care community and the Public Health Department of Iiyiyiu Aschii, as well as academic experts in the field, were given the task of drafting the publications. The analyses include results on various aspects of health affecting residents of Iiyiyiu Aschii and they also provide comparisons with 1991 data from the region and 2003 data from the rest of Quebec (Santé Québec, 1994; Statistics Canada, 2003). These analyses are relevant for everyone concerned with the health of Iiyiyiu Aschii residents (professionals, administrators, planners, and researchers).

This publication summarizes the methodological basis of the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) carried out in Cree territory. An account of the relevant methods is necessary for a proper understanding of the results presented in the various topical publications and how they were arrived at. We shall first explain how the context in which the Cree survey was undertaken led to the choice of the Canadian survey and to other decisions. The sample design and all other methodological aspects of this survey, such as data collection, weighting, data quality, and dissemination of results, will be explained subsequently.

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978-2-550-52896-8
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